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Passage Two
The three biggest lies in America are: (1) “The check is in the mail.” (2) “Of course I’ll respect you in the morning.” (3) “It was a computer error.”
Of these three little white lies, the worst is by far 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 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 manager 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 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 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 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.
21. Of the three errors, the computer error is the worst because ______.
A. the computer says nonsense
B. the computer cheats customers
C. the computer does not admit its error
D. the computer does not make the error
22. We are told that a high-tech cash register is really just ______.
A. a simple adding machine
B. a machine to receive money
C. an electric instrument of sight
D. an instrument for printing codes
23. Grocery store price lists are updated by ____.
A. a computer
B. a keyboard
C. an employee
D. an electric brain
24. The computer can do many things because _______.
A. it is very clever
B. it has men behind it
C. it has a good memory
D. it will never make mistakes
25. Which of the following describes the main idea of the passage?
A. Computers are stupid and inefficient
B. Computers help stores update the price list
C. Computer errors are basically human errors
D. Supermarket price errors are due to dishonesty

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