The most obvious way that technology separates and alienates people from one another is symbolized by the computer nerd (nerd： n. 讨厌的人， 卑微的人an unstylish， unattrACTive， or soCIAlly inept person; espeCIAlly： one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits *computer nerds*) sitting glazed-eyed (adj. 面无表情的， 目光呆滞的) before his computer screen in a basement， attic， bedroom， or office cubicle. While this scene is a caricature， of course， it’s true that prACTically everybody who uses email or surfs (transitive senses： to scan the offerings of [as television or the Internet] for something that is interesting or fills a need) the Internet does so alone， with only his or her computer for company (adv. 陪着)。 And， to the extent that computer use increases the amount of time we collectively spend in solitary ACTivities， it increases the amount of time we spend separated from our fellow humans.

　　On the other hand， technology has been a wonderful aid in bringing people together， or， in many cases， back together. Speaking for myself， I can say that I have BECome connected with quite a number of people via email with whom I might never have spoken otherwise. These include old friends with whom I had fallen out of (fall out of： v. 放弃[习惯等]) the habit of writing regular letters but with whom I now correspond regularly BECause of the ease with which email can be sent and delivered.

　　A second way in which the new technology has brought people together is by allowing individuals who have common interests to make contACT with one another. It is possible to find people who share one’s interest in nearly anything， from aardvarks (n. [动]土豚) to zippers. Such contACTs may be ephemeral， but they can be a GREat source of inforMATion and amusement as well. I would hazard (VENTURE， RISK *hazard a guess as to the outcome*) a guess that for each person who sits neurotically (neurotic： of， reLating to， constituting， or affected with neurosis) at home， eschewing personal contACTs with others in favor of an exclusive relationship with his computer， there are hundreds of others who have parleyed their email cAPacity and their access to the Web into a continuous succession of new acquaintances.