2016年广东自考学位英语真题及答案（四）

2016年广东自考学位英语真题及答案（四）

Passage Three

The three biggest lies in America are: (1) “The check is in the mail”, (2) “Of course I’ll respect you in the morning”, and (3) “It was a computer error.”

Of these three little white lies, the worst is the third. It’s the only one that can never be true. Today, if a bank statement cheats you out of $ 900 that way, you know what the clerk is sure to say,” It was a computer error.” Nonsense. The computer is reporting nothing more than what the clerk typed into it.

The most annoying case of all is when the computerized cashier in the grocery store shows that an item costs more than it actually does. If the innocent buyer points out the mistake, the checker, bagger, and manager all come together and offer the familiar explanation: “It was a compute error.”

It wasn’t, of course that computerized cashier is really nothing more than an electric event. The eye reads the Universal Product Code—chat bar of black and white lines in a corner of the package—and then checks the code against a price list stored in memory. If the price list is right, you’ll be charged accurately.

Grocery stores update the price list each day—that is, somebody sits at a keyboard and types in the prices. If the price they type in is too high, there are only two explanations: carelessness or dishonesty. But somehow “a computer error” is supposed to excuse everything.

One reason we let people hide behind a computer is the common misperception that huge, modern computers are electric brain with “artificial intelligence.” At some point there might be a machine with intelligence but none exists today. The smartest computer on Earth right now is no more intelligent than your average pen. At this point in the development of computers, the only thing any machine can do is what a human has instructed it to do.

26. Of the three lies, the one about computer is the worst because the computer itself __________.

A. says nonsense B. cheats customers

C. cannot make the error D. does not admit its error

27. According to the author, a computerized cashier is really just ___________.

A. a machine to count money B. a machine to receive money

C. an instrument to print codes D. an instrument to read codes

28. Grocery store price lists are updated by ____________.

A. a computer B. a keyboard C. an employee D. an electric brain

29. The last paragraph of the passage implies that computers ____________.

A. are very clever B. never make mistakes

C. have a good memory D. are controlled by men

30. Which of the following describes the main idea of the passage?

A. Computers are stupid and inefficient.

B. Computer errors are due to its dishonesty.

C. Computers help stores update the price list.

D. Computer errors are actually human errors.

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