2019大学英语六级长篇阅读匹配练习题(4)
Does the Internet Make You Dumber?
[A] The Roman philosopher Seneca may have put it best 2,000 years ago： "To be everywhere is to be nowhere." Today, the Internet grants us easy access to unprecedented amounts of information. But a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that the Net, with its constant distractions and interruptions, is also turning us into disrupted and superficial thinkers.
[B] The picture emerging from the research is deeply troubling, at least to anyone who values the depth, rather than just the velocity (速度), of human thought. People who read text studded with links, the studies show, comprehend less than those who read traditional linear text. People who watch busy multimedia presentations remember less than those who take in information in a more sedate (镇定的) and focused manner. People who are continually distracted by e-mails, alerts and other messages understand less than those who are able to concentrate. And people who juggle (尽力同时应付)many tasks are less creative and less productive than those who do one thing at a time.
[C] The common thread in these disabilities is dispersing our attention. The richness of our thoughts, our memories and even our personalities hinges on our ability to focus the mind and sustain concentration. Only when we pay deep attention to a new piece of information are we able to associate it "meaningfully and systematically with knowledge already well established in memory," writes the Nobel Prize
winning neuroscientist (神经科学家) Eric Kandel. Such associations are essential to mastering complex concepts.
[D] When we're constantly distracted and interrupted, as we tend to be online, our brains are unable to generalize the strong and expansive neural connections that give depth and distinctiveness to our contemplating. We become mere signal-processing units, quickly shepherding disjointed bits of information into and then out of short-term memory.
[E] In an article published in Science last year, Patricia Greenfield, a leading developmental psychologist, reviewed dozens of studies on how different media technologies influence our cognitive abilities. Some of the studies indicated that certain computer tasks, like playing video games, can enhance" visual literacy skills", increasing the speed at which people can shift their focus among icons and other images on screens. Other studies, however, found that such rapid shifts in focus, even if performed adeptly, result in less rigorous and "more automatic" thinking.
[F] In one experiment conducted at Cornell University, for example, half a class of students was allowed to use Internet-connected laptops during a lecture, while the other had to keep their computers shut. Those who browsed the Web performed much worse on a subsequent test of how well they retained the lecture's content. While it's hardly surprising that Web surfing would distract students, it should be a note of caution to schools that are wiring their classrooms in hopes of improving learning.
[G] Ms. Greenfield concluded that "every medium develops some cognitive skills at the expense of others. " Our growing
use of screen-based media, she said, has strengthened visual-spatial intelligence, which can improve the ability to do
jobs that involve keeping track of lots of simultaneous signals, like air traffic control. But that has been accompanied by "new weaknesses in higher-order cognitive processes," including "abstract vocabulary, mindfulness, reflection, inductive problem solving, critical thinking, and imagination." We're becoming, in a word, shallower.
[H] In another experiment, recently conducted at
Stanford University's Communication between Humans and Interactive Media Lab, a team of researchers gave various cognitive tests to 49 people who do a lot of media
multitasking and 52 people who multitask much less frequently. The heavy multitaskers performed poorly on all the tests.
They were more easily distracted, had less control over their attention, and were much less able to distinguish important information from trivial.
[I] The researchers were surprised by the results. They had expected that the intensive multitaskers would have
gained some unique mental advantages from all their on-screen juggling. But that wasn't the case. In fact, the heavy multitaskers weren't even good at multitasking. They were considerably less adept at switching between tasks than the more infrequent multitaskers. "Everything distracts them," observed Clifford Nass, the professor who heads the Stanford lab.
[J] It would be one thing if the ill effects went away
as soon as we turned off our computers and cell phones. But they don't. The cellular structure of the human brain,
scientists have discovered, adapts readily to the tools we use, including those for finding, storing and sharing information. By changing our habits of mind, each new technology strengthens certain neural pathways and weakens others. The cellular alterations continue to shape the way we think even when we're not using the technology.
[K] The pioneering neuroscientist Michael Merzenich believes our brains are being "massively remodeled" by our ever-intensifying use of the Web and related media. In the 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Merzenich, now a professor emeritus at the University of California in San Francisco, conducted a famous series of experiments on primate brains that revealed how extensively and quickly neural circuits change in response to experience. When, for example, Mr. Merzenich rearranged the nerves in a monkey's hand, the nerve cells in the animal's sensory cortex quickly reorganized themselves to create a new" mental map" of the hand. In a conversation late last year, he said that he was profoundly worried about the cognitive consequences of the constant distractions and interruptions the Internet bombards us with. The long-term effect on the quality of our intellectual lives, he said, could be "deadly".
[L] What we seem to be sacrificing in all our surfing and searching is our capacity to engage in the quieter, attentive modes of thought that underpin contemplation, reflection and introspection. The Web never encourages us to slow down. It keeps us in a state of perpetual mental locomotion. It is revealing, and distressing, to compare the cognitive effects of the Internet with those of an earlier information technology, the printed book. Whereas the
Internet scatters our attention, the book focuses it. Unlike the screen, the page promotes contemplativeness.
[M] Reading a long sequence of pages helps us develop a rare kind of mental discipline. The innate bias of the human brain, after all, is to be distracted. Our predisposition is
to be aware of as much of what's going on around us as possible. Our fast-paced, reflexive shifts in focus were once crucial to our survival. They reduced the odds that a
predator would take us by surprise or that we'd overlook a nearby source of food.
[N] To read a book is to practice an unnatural process
of thought. It requires us to place ourselves at what T. S. Eliot, in his poem "Four Quartets", called "the still point
of the turning world". We have to forge or strengthen the neural links needed to counter our instinctive distractedness, there by gaining greater control over our attention and our mind.
[O] It is this control, this mental discipline, which we are at risk of losing as we spend ever more time scanning and skimming online. If the slow progression of words across printed pages damped our craving to be inundated by mental stimulation, the Internet indulges it. It returns us to our native state of distractedness, while presenting us with far more distractions than our ancestors ever had to contend with. -Nicholas Carr is the author, most recently, of "The Shallows：What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains".
46. Rapid shifts in focus on screens during computer
tasks can cause more automatic but less intensive thoughts.
47. People get less understanding from the texts filled with Internet links than normal reading.
48. According to Ms. Greenfield, growing use of screen-based media has improved our visual-spatial intelligence.
49. The richness of our memories relies on our ability
to focus on something.
50. Unprecedented amounts of information can make our thoughts scattered.
51. When we turn off our computers and cellphones, the
ill effects will not disappear.
52. When we are online, our brains cannot form
distinctive and profound thinking.
53. Whereas the Internet distracts our attention, the book concentrates on it.
54. The experiment conducted at Cornell University indicates web surfing to school would distract students' thoughts.
55. According to the experiment at Stanford University, the multitaskers' attention was easily scattered.
46. 译文：电脑屏幕上注意力焦点的迅速转移使人们的思维变得
更加机械，而不那么严谨了。
定位：由关键词Rapid shifts， automatic定位到原文划线句。
47.译文：人们阅读网络链接的文本所获得的信息量不如传统文
本多。
定位：由关键词 understandin9。Internet links 定位到原文划线句。
48. 译文：格林菲尔德女士认为，我们使用屏幕媒体越来越多，这增强了我们的视觉空间智能。
定位：由关键词Ms.Greenfield， screen-based media，visual intelligence定位到原文划线句。
49. 译文：我们记忆的丰富性取决于专注的水平。
定位：由关键词richness， memories定位到原文划线句。
50.译文：所未有的大量信息让我们的思想变得支离破碎。
定位：由关键词Unprecedented amountl of information定位
到原文划线句。
51.译文：当我们关掉电脑和手机时，这些负面影响不会随之消失。
定位：由关键词m effects，disappear定位到原文划线句。
52.译文：上网时，我们的大脑就不可能形成独特而富有深度的思考。
定位：由关键词distinctive and profound thinking”定位到原文划线句。
53. 译文：互联网分散了我们的注意力，书籍却能够使我们集中精力。
定位：由关键词attention， book，concentrates定位到原文
划线句。
54.T译文：在康奈尔大学实行的一项实验表明网络课堂会让学生分心。
定位：由关键词 Come University定位到原文划线句。
55. 译文：在斯坦福大学的测试中，经常同时使用多个媒体的人更容易分心。
定位：由关键词Stanford University定位到原文划线句。
2019年12月大学英语六级考试(全一套) Part I Writing (30 minutes) Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on theimportance of having a sense of social responsibility. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words. Part II Listening comprehension (30minutes) Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of eachconversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation and the questions will bespoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from thefour choices marked A), B) C)and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre. Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard 1. A)It focuses exclusively on Jazz. B) It sponsors major jazz concerts. C) It has several branches in London. D) It displays albums by new music talents. 2. A) It originated with cowboys. B) Its market has now shrunk. C) Its listeners are mostly young people. D) It remains as widespread as hip hop music. 3. A)Its definition is varied and complicated. B) It is still going through experimentation. C) It is frequently accompanied by singing. D)Its style has remained largely unchanged. 4.A) Learn to play them.
2019年高考英语阅读理解专题复习10篇(名师精选真题实战训练+详细解题过程，值得下载练习) [一] As cultural symbols go, the American car is quite young. The Model T Ford was built at the Piquette Plant in Michigan a century ago, with the first rolling off the assembly line(装配线) on September 27,1908.Only eleven cars were produced the next month. But eventually Henry Ford would build fifteen million of them. Modern America was born on the road, behind a wheel. The car shaped some of the most lasting aspects o f American culture: the roadside diner, the billboard, the motel, even the hamburger. For most of the last century, the car represented what it meant to be American—going forward at high speed to find new worlds. The road novel, the road movie, these are the most typical American ideas, born of abundant petrol, cheap cars and a never-ending interstate highway system, the largest public works project in history. pot and In 1928 Herbert Hoover imagined an America with“ a chicken in every a car in every garage.” Since then, this society has moved onward, never looking back, as the car transformed America from a farm-based society into an industrial power. The cars that drove the American Dream have helped to create a global ecological disaster. In America the demand for oil has grown by 22 percent since 1990. The problems of excessive(过度的)energy consumption, climate change and population growth have been described in a book by the American writer Thomas L.Friedman. He fears the worst, but hopes for the best. Friedman points out that the green economy(经济)is a chance to keep American The ability to design, build and export green technologies for producing strength.“ clean water, clean air and healthy and abundant food is going to be the currency of power in the new century.”
2019年6月英语六级听力真题答案（第一套）Section A Long Conversations 1. D) A project with a troublesome client. 2. B) Take wedding photos. 3. C) Nervous. 4. A) Start her own bakery. 5. D) They have to be more responsible for what they do. 6. Behave like adults. 7. D) Those who respect her student commitments. 8. C) Those conductive to their academic studies. Section B Passages 9. B) They break away from traditional ways of thinking. 10. C) They resulted in a brand new style of skiing technique. 11. He won three gold medals in one Winter Olympics. 12. B) They die almost instantly. 13. D) It has an instant effect on your body chemistry. 14. To enjoy good health while in dark moods. 15. B) They are closely connected. Section C Lectures or Talks 16. D) They focus their attention on different things.
大学英语六级阅读模拟试题及答案 第一篇 A scientific panel convened by the World Health Organization recommended guidelines on Friday for doctors conducting clinical studies of SARS patients. The panel urged doctors to apply the guidelines in analyzing the masses of potentially useful information about various therapies that were collected in this year’s epidemic. Much of that information has not been published or analyzed. “It is a matter of urgency to get better analysis and review,” said Dr. Simon Mardel, a WHO official who led the two-day meeting that ended on Friday. He said thousands of potential therapies and compounds had been tested so far as researchers try to determine treatments for SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. “We recognize that having no treatment for SARS is hindering our ability to control an epidemic in so many ways.” He said. In the epidemic earlier this year, various treatments, like drugs to fight the virus or strengthen the immune system, as well as traditional Chinese medicine, were delivered under emergency conditions, in widely different settings and countries to patients suffering from varying stages of the illness. Those conditions—generally without standardized measurements or controlled situations—have made it hard to interpret results. Standard supportive therapy like nursing, and in severe cases the use of mechanical respirators（呼吸器）to help patients breathe, is the mainstay（主要支持）of SARS care, and helped many patients survive. But doctors still do not know how best to treat SARS patients who have breathing difficulties. Dr. Mardel said. One method is invasive ventilation. A second method involves blowing oxygen into the lungs through a mask. Both carry the risk of transmitting the virus to hospital employees. Without proper analysis, the panel was unable to say definitively which treatment worked best, or which caused the most harm. “There is a lack of shared information,” Dr. Mardel said, noting that a lot of data have not been published. The panel also agreed on guidelines that would allow doctors to conduct quick and safe clinical trials, a process that generally takes years to complete. The world Health Organization, a United Nations agency did not release the guidelines. Dr. Mardel said they were flexible because no one knew where, when and in what setting SARS would return. Experts in many countries have already listed the treatments they want to test, and the health agency is leaving these decisions to individual nations. 1. Guidelines recommended by the scientific panel can be used for _____. A. gathering potentially useful information about various therapies collected B. conducting clinical studies of SARS patients C. determining treatment for SARS D. publishing all the information about SARS
2014年12月大学英语六级长篇阅读匹配1 It's Time to Pay Attention to Sleep A. After being diagnosed with brain and lung cancer in 2011, Lynn Mitchell, 68, was averaging about an hour of solid sleep a night. Stressed about her treatments, she was paying for it in hours of lost sleep. B. The brain cancer was already affecting her mobility--Mitchell was often dizzy and would lose her balance--but the lack of sleep made things worse. Even walking became increasingly difficult. Exhausted in the mornings, she was practically incoherent (精神恍惚). When her doctors recommend she see a sleep therapist, Mitchell was relieved at how benign it sounded in comparison to the chemotherapy (化学疗法)she had undergone and the gene therapy trial she was undergoing, which had side effects like nausea and fatigue. C. For about nine weeks, Mitchell worked with the sleep therapist to adjust her sleep habits. She went to bed only when she was extremely fired. She quit watching TV in bed. She stopped drinking caffeinated (含咖啡因的) coffee in the evening. She also learned breathing exercises to relax and help her fall asleep. It was all quite simple and common sense, and most importantly, noninvasive and didn't require taking any pills. D. "It's common knowledge that sleep is needed for day to day function," says Dr. David Rapoport, director of the Sleep Medicine Program at NYU School of Medicine. "What isn't common knowledge is that it really matters--it's not just cosmetic." Rapoport has long seen people seek sleep therapy because they're chronically fired or suffering from insomnia, but an increasing number of patients are being referred to his center for common diseases, disorders, and mental health. E. Researchers have known for some time that sleep is critical for weight maintenance and hormone balance. And too little sleep is linked to everything from diabetes (糖尿病) to heart disease to depression. Recently, mounting evidence indicates that sleep plays a role in nearly every aspect of health. Beyond chronic illnesses, a child's behavioral problems at school could be rooted in mild sleep apnea (呼吸暂停). And studies have shown children with ADHD (注意力缺陷多动症) are more likely to get insufficient sleep. A recent study published in the journal SLEEP found a link between older men with poor sleep quality and cognitive decline. Another study shows sleep is essential in early childhood for development, learning, and the formation and retention of memories. F. But to many of us, sleep is easily sacrificed, especially since lack of it isn't seen as life threatening.Over time, sleep deprivation can have serious consequences, but we mostly sacrifice a night of sleep here and there, and always say that we'll "catch up." Luckily, it is possible to make up for sleep debt (though it can take a very long time), but most Americans are still chronically sleep deprived.
徐老师 2019年普通高等学校招生全国统一考试（全国卷1） 英语 注意事项： 1．答卷前，考生务必将自己的姓名、准考证号填写在答题卡上。 2．回答选择题时，选出每小题答案后，用铅笔把答题卡上对应题目的答案标号涂黑。如需改动，用橡皮擦干净后，再选涂其他答案标号。回答非选择题时，将答案写在答题卡上，写在本试卷上无效。 3．考试结束后，将本试卷和答题卡一并交回。 第一部分听力（共两节，满分30分） 做题时，先将答案标在试卷上。录音内容结束后，你将有两分钟的时间将试卷上的答案转涂到答题卡上。 第一节（共5小题；每小题1.5分，满分7.5分） 听下面5段对话。每段对话后有一个小题，从题中所给的A、B、C三个选项中选出最佳选项。听完每段对话后，你都有10秒钟的时间来回答有关小题和阅读下一小题。每段对话仅读一遍。 例：How much is the shirt? A. ￡19.15. B. ￡9.18. C. ￡9.15. 答案是C。 1. Where does this conversation take place? A. In a classroom. B. In a hospital. C. In a museum. 2. What does Jack want to do? A. Take fitness classes. B. Buy a pair of gym shoes. C. Change his work schedule. 3. What are the speakers talking about? A. What to drink. B. Where to meet. C. When to leave. 4. What is the relationship between the speakers? A. Colleges. B. Classmates. C. Strangers. 5. Why is Emily mentioned in the conversation? 第1页
2019年12月大学英语六级考试真题 Part I Writing (30 minutes) Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on the importance of having a sense of community responsibility. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words. Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes) Section A Directions:In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre. Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 1.A)It focuses exclusively on jazz. B) It sponsors major jazz concerts. C) It has several branches in London. D) It displays albums by new music talents. 2.A) It originated with cowboys. B) Its market has now shrunk. C) Its listeners are mostly young people. D) It remains as widespread as hip hop music. 3.A)Its definition is varied and complicated. B) It is still going through experimentation. C) It is frequently accompanied by singing. D) Its style has remained largely unchanged. 4.A) Learn to play them. B) Take music lessons. C) Listen to them yourself. D) Consult jazz musicians. Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
大学英语六级阅读理解的分数组成大学英语六级阅读理解的分数组成 分值占整套试卷的35%满分248.5分考试时间：40分钟 说明： 1、选词填空5% 2、长篇阅读10% 3、仔细阅读20% 妙招之一，我们要扫读全文，确定文章的大概结构。 如何扫读全文呢重点去读文章的第一段，如果各部分有小标题，还要读一下各部分的小标题，如果无小标题，则扫读每段的首句，这样做的目的就是为了把握文章的大意和总体结构，同时也能快速的得出后面主旨题的答案。 妙招之二，要将考查题目与原文相对应。 六级考试与考研英语一样，在题目的设置上呈现出出题顺序与行文顺序一致的规律。最后一题的答案定位信息点一般不可能在第一段或前面几段出现。所以我们按顺序把每一道题目题干中的定位词先划出来，再按段落顺序依次去定位。 那么，何为定位词呢?通常分为两类：第一类是表时间、数字及首字母大写的人名地名等专有名词;第二类是比较长，比较复杂的名词;这里切记，不能用表达中心思想的主题词去定位，因为文章通篇讲的都是它。由于问题顺序和文章行文顺序一致，所以先做第一小题，然后做第二小题，看一道，做一道。千万不要把文章全部看完后再做题，或者全部题目看完后再读文章。
在将题目和文章比对的同时，要善于学会精读重点信息。比如，文中举例处，引语及多个名词并列而不是完整句子的内容，均可略读。此外，要多关注文中的逻辑关系词，对于这些词的把握，有助 于我们精确把握重要信息。通常要注意下面三种逻辑关系： (1)并列、递进关系：and，or，besides，furthermore， what’smore，then，inaddition，moreover，inotherwords; (2)因果关系：asaresultof，onaccountof，asaresult，thanksto，therefore，hence，consequently，because，for，dueto，owingto; (3)转折关系：whereas，however，but，nevertheless，yet，infact; 最后，要学会运用特殊的标点符号，比如冒号，破折号，小括号。这些标点符号的出现就是对前面的内容作进一步的说明。所以，在 阅读文章时，可以跳读这些标点符号后面的信息，从而帮助我们节 省更多宝贵的时间并且更加快速地把握文章的主旨。 妙招之三，精炼原文，学会概括。 1、扩充词汇量 2、学会对六级不同考试题目的理解
2019年6月英语六级阅读真题及答案【含解析】 今年的六级阅读难度和去年12月份的难度持平 Passage One Professor Stephen Hawking has warned that the creation of powerful artificial intelligence (AI)will be “either the best, or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity ”,and praised the creation of an academic institute dedicated to researching the futu re of intelligence as “crucial to the future of our civilization and our species”. Hawking was speaking at the opening of the Leverhulme Center for the Future of Intelligence(LCFI)at Cambridge University, a multi-disciplinary institute that will attempt to tackle some of the open-ended questions raised by the rapid pace of development in AI research. “We spend a great deal of time studying history,” Hawking said, “which, let’s face it ,is mostly the history of stupidity. So it’s a welcome change that people are studying instead the future of intelligence.” While the world-renowned physicist has often been cautious about AI, raising concerns that humanity could be the architect of its own destruction if it creates a super-intelligence with a will of its own, he was also quick to highlight the positives that AI research can bring “The potential benefits of creating intelligence are huge”, he said, “We cannot predict what we might achieve when our own minds are amplified by AL. Perhaps with the tools of this new
2011年6月大学英语六级真题及答案 Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes) Section A Directions: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words. Please write your answers on Answer Sheet 2. Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage. How good are you at saying "no"? For many, it's surprisingly difficult. This is especially true of editors, who by nature tend to be eager and engaged participants in everything they do. Consider these scenarios: It's late in the day. That front-page package you've been working on is nearly complete; one last edit and it's finished. Enter the executive editor, who makes a suggestion requiring a more-than-modest rearrangement of the design and the addition of an information box. You want to scream: "No! It's done!" What do you do? The first rule of saying no to the boss is don't say no. She probably has something in mind when she makes suggestions, and it's up to you to find out what. The second rule is don't raise the stakes by challenging her authority. That issue is already decided. The third rule is to be ready to cite options and consequences. The boss's suggestions might be appropriate, but there are always consequences. She might not know about the pages backing up that need attention, or about the designer who had to go home sick. Tell her she can have what she wants, but explain the consequences. Understand what she's trying to accomplish and propose a Plan B that will make it happen without destroying what you've done so far. Here's another case. Your least-favorite reporter suggests a dumb story idea. This one should be easy, but it's not. If you say no, even politely, you risk inhibiting further ideas, not just from that reporter, but from others who heard that you turned down the idea. This scenario is common in newsrooms that lack a systematic way to filter story suggestions. Two steps are necessary. First, you need a system for how stories are proposed and reviewed. Reporters can tolerate rejection of their ideas if they believe they were given a fair hearing. Your gut reaction (本能反应) and dismissive rejection, even of a worthless idea, might not qualify as systematic or fair. Second, the people you work with need to negotiate a "What if ...?" agreement covering "What if my idea is turned down?" How are people expected to react? Is there an appeal process? Can they refine the idea and resubmit it? By anticipating "What if...?" situations before they happen, you can reach understanding that will help ease you out of confrontations. 47. Instead of directly saying no to your boss, you should find out __________. 48. The author's second warning is that we should avoid running a greater risk by __________. 49. One way of responding to your boss's suggestion is to explain the __________ to her and offer an alternative solution. 50. To ensure fairness to reporters, it is important to set up a system for stories to __________. 51. People who learn to anticipate "What if...?" situations will be able to reach understanding and avoid __________. Section B Directions:There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. Passage One Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage. At the heart of the debate over illegal immigration lies one key question: are immigrants good or bad for the economy? The American public overwhelmingly thinks they're bad. Yet the consensus among most economists is
2020年英语六级长篇阅读冲刺练习题及解析(3) Preparing for Computer Disasters A： Summary： When home office computers go down, many small businesses grind to a halt. Fortunately, taking steps to recover from disasters and minimize their effects is quite straightforward. B： Fires, power surges, and floods, they're all facts of life. We read about them in the morning paper and see them on the evening news. We sympathize with the victims and commiserate over their bad luck. We also shake our heads at the digital consequences—melted computers, system failures, destroyed data. Yet, somehow, many of us continue to live by that old mantra of denial： "It won't happen to me." Well, the truth is, at some point you'll probably have to deal with at least one disaster. That's just how it goes, and in most aspects of our lives we do something about it. We buy insurance. We stow away provisions. We even make disaster plans and run drills. But for some reason, computer disaster recovery is a blind spot for many of us. It shouldn't be. Home computers contain some of our most important information, both business and personal, and making certain our data survives a disaster should be a priority. Moreover, even the smallest disaster can be a serious disruption. Personal computers have become an integral part of the smooth-running household. We use them to communicate, shop, and do homework, and they're even more vital to home office users. When home office computers go down, many small businesses grind to a halt. Fortunately, taking steps to recover from disasters and minimize their effects is quite straightforward. With a good