Every year, millions of Americans see their personal information leak into the wrong hands. Maybe there’s spyware on their computer, or a service they use suffered a security reach, leaving customers at risk of exposure. Or perhaps their password is easy to guess: Security company Splash-Data reports that the most popular passwords in 2015 were 123456 and password.
Fear not: It is a lot easier than you might think to set up proper defenses. In fact, you can easily do it all a weekend. Here’s how.
Clean Your Computer And Smart-phone
Before you put new security measures into place, make sure your devices are as spotless as possible. This means installing a good antivirus program and taking the time to clear out any spy-or malware that may have already infected your system. Go with AVG Free Antivirus (free. AVg.com) or Avast! (avast.com) - each is free. Run a full system scan. This can take over an hour, so start it before settling into other plans. When you return to your computer, clear out anything that shouldn’t be there with a few simple steps (the program will guide you). These days, it’s also worth it to make sure your phone is safe from viruses. iPhones are less likely to be targeted by spy-ware, but Android users should download the Lookout app (lookout.com) to scan their devices and ensure everything is as it should be.
Security Your Wi-Fi
Now that your computer is clean, you should plug any holes in your home network. It’s fairly easy for potential criminals to gain access to your information if they’re able to share your connection - that’s why you want to be careful when using public Wi-Fi. For your home, the Federal Communications Commission recommends a few steps. Even though you put security measures into place a couple of years ago, it’s a good idea to refresh your setting. You may have to refer to the instructions for your wireless router or call tech support for help. Different routers will have different setup pages, so the actual step-by-step will vary, but the end result will be the same.
Dig Deep with Your Passwords
Everything you just accomplished could be for nothing if a thief has your existing passwords, so you need to change them for every service you use. Try it when you find yourself on those sites anyway.
What you’ve heard is true: Passwords should use a variety of special characters, numerals, letters, and case when possible. They should be close to random, and there should be a different one for each website you use. Doing this, and keeping track of it all, is a pain - which is why people don’t do it and wind up with stolen identities. Try Dashlane (dashlane.com), a password manager with powerful encryption（加密）that can securely keep track of the most ridiculous codes you can come up with. Best of all, it logs you into sites automatically, so there’s no need to worry about all those obscure keystrokes. Whew!
Never Answer Unwanted Email
Always check the security symbols when using an online site for shopping. If the lock icon encryption is not there, do not give out credit details. Also, check that the site is legal - never go to a site from a random email and start shopping online. Go to the site through a known URL or by searching for it on a search engine first.
Keep a separate credit card just for online shopping. This will make it easier to cancel if something bad does happen and your other credit card for “in real life” can still be used uninfluenced.
Don’t store information on any store’s website. It may be conventional but it’s also a possible loss to you if the site is hacked.
1. The passage is mainly about ______.| A．ways of avoiding online identity theft |
| B．tips of freeing computers from viruses |
| C．measures to ensure network security |
| D．steps to keep track of passwords |
| A．the applications of antivirus programs |
| B．the practice of using public Wi-Fi |
| C．the difficult access to the passwords |
| D．the separate credit card for online shopping |
| A．clear out of everything in the system |
| B．make a random selection of network |
| C．get rid of potential spy-ware |
| D．refresh the infected system |
相似题推荐
The Internet is the largest library in the history of the world and a great resource for anyone seeking information.
Original written work and information are protected by copyright laws. Therefore, when you use information you find while doing research, you should always give credit to the person that produced it. To plagiarize is to use ideas that are not your own without giving credit to the original source, or to claim that someone else’s ideas are your own. This is a dishonest practice.
Internet-related plagiarism has become such a problem.
| A．It lists details like the name of writer and publication. |
| B．But doing research on the Internet is not without its risks. |
| C．This is because it is so easy to find and copy information online. |
| D．In addition to dishonesty, plagiarism is a lost opportunity for students. |
| E．To avoid unintended plagiarizing, managing your sources becomes important. |
| F．If you use ideas from other writers without quoting from the original work, you’re plagiarizing. |
【推荐2】Amazing Benefits of Listening to Music during Meditation(冥想)
There are many benefits of listening to music during meditation. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should! It is not only relaxing but also beneficial for your mental health.
Reduce Stress
Balance Your Emotions
Maintaining an emotional balance is very important. Listening to music while meditating can help you balance your emotions.
Inspire You
When you listen to music while meditating, you feel inspired. This brings about a good feeling, and you can relax and enjoy yourself.
Wonderful, wasn’t it?
| A．Here are some of the benefits. |
| B．You will also feel great about yourself. |
| C．All your presentations will be done with ease. |
| D．Meditation can help you live a life free of anxiety. |
| E．One of its benefits is a reduction in the levels of stress and anxiety. |
| F．The journey through music and meditation is something we should all try. |
| G．People who meditate while regularly listening to music can balance their lives. |
【推荐3】The new year is an excellent time to reflect on your accomplishments and your disappointments at about the halfway point in the school year, as well as to plan how you will improve in the future.
Reflect on your first school term: Honestly review your school year thus far. List your classes and your grades in each. What did not go as well as expected? Such as, exams you scored poorly on, projects you rushed through and long-term goals you did not meet. Revisit those plans you may have made related to selecting after-class activities or maximizing your senior year.
Be positive: As you are working on your list, remember to highlight (强调) the positives. Honesty is more than just telling the hard truths—it is also offering proper praise. Include your high grades and impressive test results on your list as well. Remember that excellence is not a result, but a process. As you are recording your accomplishments, list the times when you made significant progress. Note the projects you started on time, the papers you outlined before you wrote and the study plans you followed.
Set new goals: Television shows sometimes reflect a world view that suggests success comes from a few weeks of competition rather than a lifetime of’ hard work and devotion. In truth, success in life is largely a result of continual small improvements that finally lead to great changes. With this in mind, make a short list of areas or tasks you wish to improve upon in the coming year. Keeping your list short is important, as creating too many goals can become overwhelming (压倒一切的).
Build on strengths: Include your strengths when you set goals. If you did well in algebra last year, determine to do just as well in geometry or calculus this year. If you submitted all your assignments (作业) on time, resolve to finish your work a day earlier in order to allow for editing. Successful people build on their strengths to reach true excellence.
1. When we reflect on what didn’t go as well as expected, we should be ________ .| A．focused | B．modest | C．specific | D．measurable |
| A．Remember to sense the hardship only. |
| B．Remember that excellence is a result. |
| C．Remember that high grades are necessary. |
| D．Remember to praise ourselves properly. |
| A．Success lies in failures one after another. |
| B．Success lies in a few weeks of competition. |
| C．Success is a result of a lifetime of hard work. |
| D．Success is from constant small improvements. |
| A．Build on our weak points to reach success. |
| B．Keep our list as short as possible to keep motivated. |
| C．Finish our assignment a day earlier in order to allow for editing. |
| D．Highlight our positives as well as negatives while making a list. |
【推荐1】The week my eldest son finished pre-school education, I decided to clear out the playroom filled with his toys. Toys had kept him company whenever his mother and I were busy with other duties, and over the years we had collected a really large number of them. Here are some of what I found: 13 puzzles, 4 games for practising maths, and a speaker box that could play Mozart to develop musical ability.
Our masses of playthings may have been extreme, but it was by no means unusual. American families spend, on average, around 600 dollars every year on toys; a 10-year-old child in the UK may have owned 238 toys, totaling about 6,500 pounds.
During the past two centuries, educators, toy companies and parents like us have acted as if the purpose of play is to prepare children for adulthood. The more book learning we could pack up as play, and then give to our children, the better. Then, in the second half of the 20th century, toys were increasingly bought for the purpose of building better brains in order to build more competitive and successful grownups. By 2020, the different kinds of educational toys had made nearly $65 billion worldwide. Toys that teach — from the Speak & Spell to the See & Say — are now a part of many young lives.
“This generation of parents is asking toys to provide an end product, and that end product is success,” Richard Gottlieb, an influential toy industry advisor, commented. “They want toys to get their children into Harvard.”
“The model has been, ‘If I get toys that do schoolish things, then that’s good,’” Alison Gopnik, a leading developmental psychologist, said. “But that really goes against what the developmental science is telling us. For a long time, we’ve been getting our children, and their toys, all wrong.”
1. Why does the author mention toys in his house?| A．To present the varieties of toys. |
| B．To advise others to buy fewer toys. |
| C．To show parents’ craziness for toys. |
| D．To complain of too many toys in his house. |
| A．By listing numbers. | B．By quoting opinions. |
| C．By providing examples. | D．By drawing comparisons. |
| A．They can keep children happy. |
| B．They can make children positive. |
| C．They can reduce children’s stress. |
| D．They can promote children’s success. |
| A．Do We Need to Buy Toys? | B．Are Toys a Part of Our Life? |
| C．Can Toys Bring Us Happiness? | D．Have We Got Toys All Wrong? |
【推荐2】We are unavoidably linked to the ocean. Collectively, it covers about 71% of our world and is instrumental in the processes that keep us alive. While the rainforests may be referred to as “the lungs of the planet”, scientists say it’s actually the ocean that provides 50% — 80% of the oxygen we breathe. Besides, through a “conveyor belt” action, it helps regulate Earth’s climate by transporting heat away from the equator, towards the poles to cool. The ocean also proves itself essential in the fight against climate change too. It absorbs 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere-or rather, it’s not the ocean itself but what lives in it. And perhaps one of the most incredible forms is the humble seagrass.
Across the globe, there are more than 70 species of seagrass, growing in shallow and sheltered coastal areas and covering 300,000 square kilometres, which absorbs 10% of the ocean’s carbon each year and captures carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests. Seagrass builds its leaves and roots using carbon, which it extracts from water through the process of photosynthesis (光合作用) — and it holds on to it, even after death. Dead plant material decomposes (分解) slowly on the ocean floor, and this means that the carbon stored within is eventually buried under the seabed.
Significant as it is, seagrass is critically endangered. According to the U. N. Environment Programme, a seagrass area the size of a football pitch is destroyed every 30 minutes around the world. Fortunately, restoration missions are already underway, in places as far afield as Kenya, Mozambique, and the UK. But rising temperatures remain a twofold threat: an increase in storms that tear the shallow-rooted seagrass from its beds, and rising sea-levels that block out the sunlight.
However, seagrass is known to adapt to survive-and gene sequencing of the Zostera marina seagrass has shown it has done so on three separate occasions already. Could it be one of Earth’s great survivors that will save us all? Only time will tell.
1. How does the seagrass help regulate Earth’s climate?| A．It blocks out the sunlight. | B．It absorbs carbon dioxide. |
| C．It provides most of the oxygen. | D．It transports heat towards the poles. |
| A．Obtains. | B．Replaces. | C．Consumes. | D．Delivers. |
| A．It is no longer endangered after restoration. |
| B．It has saved the planet from climate change. |
| C．It hasn’t been affected by rising temperatures. |
| D．It is able to adapt to changes in its environment. |
| A．The Fantastic World of Seagrass | B．The Uncertain Future of the Ocean |
| C．Seagrass: The Ocean’s Unsung Hero | D．The Battle to Save Seagrass from Extinction |
【推荐3】More and more people around the world are living in city areas and the need for high-quality fresh food is rising. At the same time, new homes, apartment buildings, shopping centers and roads are taking the place of rich land near cities. That makes growing crops in tall buildings an interesting solution.
In Dallas, Texas, a company called Green Habitat Hydroponics (GHH) sells vertical farming supplies. “You can control anything and everything you want to with hydroponics—the process of growing plants in sand, small stones or water with added nutrients but not soil,” Kris Maxwell, a sales employee at GHH said. “For example, certain plants need certain nutrients and PH levels. But don’t worry. You can change the hydroponics solutions by adding or taking away nutrients, or by changing the PH level, or even by controlling the amount of water in a solution, so that plants get all the nutrients and water requirements they need. There are even different solutions for certain stages in the plants’ growth.”
In this indoor environment, LED lights, which are environmentally friendly, replace the sun. Heaters, coolers, and special machines control the temperature and humidity. Up to 300 plants can grow in one container unit.
GHH also sells aeroponics systems. With this system, plants are placed in huge containers where only the roots are put in a solution. Nutrient rich wastes from fish, for example, are filtered and sent through the system.
The good thing about this method is that no fertilizers have to be used because the fish produce all of the necessary nutrients. Another advantage of vertical farming is that no pests will damage your crops.
What do you think? Does vertical farming have a bright future?
1. Which of the following may not be the reason for vertical farming?| A．Many people nowadays are flowing into cities. |
| B．The earth has to support more and more people. |
| C．People show greater interest in eating fresh food. |
| D．The fields for growing crops near cities are reducing day by day. |
| A．Heaters. | B．Coolers. |
| C．Light from a kind of bulb. | D．Air conditioning machines. |
| A．balanced | B．removed | C．destroyed | D．created |
| A．It can be easily operated. | B．People can get delicious food. |
| C．There is no need for chemical nutrients. | D．It may bring about a good harvest. |
