单选题
The three biggest lies in America are: 1) "The check is in the mail", 2) "Of course I"ll respond 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 computer error.
It wasn"t, of course. That computerized cashier is really nothing more than an electric eye. The eye reads the Universal Product Code—that bar of black and white lines in a corner of the package—and then cheeks the code against a price list stored m 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.
单选题
Of the three lies, the one about computer is the worst because the computer itself ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章第二段最后一句“The computer is reporting nothing more than what the clerk typed into it. ”可知，计算机不可能自己出错。故选C。
单选题
According to the author, a computerized cashier is really just ______.
单选题
Grocery store price lists are updated by ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章第五段第一句“Grocery stores update the price list each day—that is, somebody sits at a keyboard and types in the prices. ”可知，价目表是店里的店员输入的。故选C。
单选题
The last paragraph of the passage implies that computers ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章最后一段最后一句“At this point in the development of computers, the only thing any machine can do is what a human has instructed it to do. ”可推知，电脑是在人类的控制下工作的。故选D。
单选题
Which of the following describes the main idea of the passage?