阅读理解
The three biggest lies in American are: (1) "The check is in the mail." (2) "Of course I''11 respect you in the morning." (3) "It was a computer error."
Of these three little white lies, the worst of the lot by far 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 irritating case of all is when the computerized cash register 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 manger all come together and offer the familiar explanation: " It was a computer error."
It wasn''t, of course. That high-tech cash register is really nothing more than an electric eye. The eye reads the Universal Product Code--that ribbon of black and white lines in a comer of the package-and then checks the code against a price list stored in memory. If the price list is right, you''l1 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 typed 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, modem computers are" electric brains" 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 screwdriver. At this point in the development of computers, the only thing any machine can do is what a human has instructed it to do.
单选题
We are told that a high-tech cash register is really just______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】细节题，只是选项的表述与原文相比有所变动。关键词为“nothing more than an electric eye”，“nothing more than”意为“只不过，不外乎”。电子眼的具体功能在第四段有具体阐述，简言之，即：“an instrument of sight”。
单选题
Grocery store price lists are updated by______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】问细节，相关语句为“Grocery stores update the price list…somebody sits at a keyboard and types in the prices”，因此是由商店的雇员更新每天的价目表的。
单选题
According to the passage, if the price in the machine is too high, the cause(s) may be______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】细节题。相关语句为“If the price typed in is too high，there are only two explanations：carelessness or dishonesty．But somehow “a computer error”is supposed to excuse everything”，因此，原因应该是人的粗心或不诚实，而不是电脑的错误。
单选题
Which of the following describes the main idea of the passage?