TED演讲:便宜、高效的救灾避难所

 　　So, I'm going to start off with kind of the buzzkill a little bit.  好吧，我的开场可能有点让人扫兴

　　Forty-two million people were displaced by natural disasters in 2010. 四千两百万人在2010年因灾成为无家可归的人。

　　Now, there was nothing particularly special about 2010,  不过，2010年可没有什么太大不了的

　　because, on average, 31 and a half million people are displaced by natural disasters every single year. 因为，平均来说，每年因为各种自然灾害而流离失所的人数达到了三千一百五十万之多。

　　Now, usually when people hear statistics or stats like that,  通常，人们听到这方面的统计数据的时候，

　　you start thinking about places like Haiti or other kind of exotic or maybe even impoverished¹ areas, 都会想到海地或者是其他国家或者是贫困地区，

　　but it happens right here in the United States every single year. 但事实上类似的事情在美国每一年都在发生着。

　　Last year alone, 99 federally declared disasters were on file with FEMA, 仅去年一年，就有99起官方证实的灾害被联邦应急管理局(FEMA)记录在案，

　　from Joplin, Missouri, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to the Central Texas wildfires that just happened recently. 发生地点从密苏里州的乔普林、阿拉巴马州的塔斯卡卢萨、到最近刚发生在德克萨斯州中部的森林大火。

　　Now, how does the most powerful country in the world handle these displaced people? 那么，世界上最强大的国家是怎么安排这些无家可归的人呢？

　　They cram² them onto cots, put all your personal belongings³ in a plastic garbage bag, 他们把灾民塞在简易床上，所有私人物品都被塞进一个塑料垃圾袋，

　　stick it underneath,  然后扔在床下面，

　　and put you on the floor of an entire sports arena⁴, or a gymnasium. 然后大家都挤在一个体育场里，或者体育馆里。

　　So obviously there's a massive housing gap,  所以临时住房短缺问题很明显，

　　and this really upset me, because academia tells you after a major disaster, 这让我很失望，因为学术界认为，在一次大灾难过后，

　　there's typically about an 18-month time frame to -- we kinda recover, start the recovery process, 一般需要经过18个月的时间，才会开始重建的进程，

　　but what most people don't realize is that on average  但是大部分人都没意识到

　　it takes 45 to 60 days or more for the infamous⁵ FEMA trailers to even begin to show up. 一般要经过45到60天甚至更多时间，那些声名狼藉的的联邦应急管理局的拖车才会开始出现。

　　Before that time, people are left to their own devices.  在那之前，人们只能靠自己。

　　So I became obsessed⁶ with trying to figure out a way to actually fill this gap. 所以我开始很专注于找到一个方法来填补这个空缺。

　　This actually became my creative obsession⁷.  这项创造性的事业使我十分痴迷。

　　I put aside all my freelance work after hours and started just focusing particularly on this problem. 几个小时后，我就把我所有的手头兼职工作抛到一边，开始全身心投入到这项工作中。

　　So I started sketching⁸.  画草图是第一项工作。

　　Two days after Katrina, I started sketching and sketching  卡特里娜飓风过后两天，我开始一遍遍的画草图

　　and trying to brainstorm⁹ up ideas or solutions for this,  尽己所能想方设法的来找到一个可行的方案，

　　and as things started to congeal¹⁰ or ideas started to form,  当我的构思最终成形后，

　　I started sketching digitally on the computer,  我开始用电脑上进行设计，

　　but it was an obsession, so I couldn't just stop there.  当然这终究还是图纸，所以我不能就此停下。

　　I started experimenting, making models, talking to experts in the field, taking their feedback, and refining, 之后我开始做实验，做一些模型，展示给这个领域的专家们，倾听他们的反馈，并进行改进，

　　and I kept on refining and refining for nights and weekends for over five years. 我一遍一遍的改进，这个过程持续了五年多。

　　Now, my obsession ended up driving me to create full-size prototypes in my own backyard 最终，这个使我着迷的计划有了一个结果，那就是在我家后院的全尺寸原型产品

　　and actually spending my own personal savings¹¹ on everything from tooling to patents and a variety of other costs, 它们花光了我所有的积蓄，包括购买工具到付专利使用费以及其他各种各样的费用，

　　but in the end I ended up with this modular housing system that can react to any situation or disaster. 不过最后我还是成功做出了这个模块化房屋系统，它可以应付各种情况和灾难。

　　It can be put up in any environment,  它可以被安放在任何环境中，

　　from an asphalt parking lot to pastures or fields,  从沥青停车场到牧场或农田，

　　because it doesn't require any special setup or specialty¹² tools. 因为它不需要任何特殊的基础建设或是特殊的工具。

　　Now, at the foundation and kind of the core of this whole system is the Exo Housing Unit, 这套系统的基础和核心是外挂式房屋模块，

　　which is just the individual shelter module¹³.  那是一种独立的避难所模块。

　　And though it's light, light enough that you can actually lift it by hand and move it around, 它非常轻，轻到你用手就可以轻易的举起来并且来回挪动，

　　and it actually sleeps four people.  这屋子能睡4个人。

　　And you can arrange these things as kind of more for encampments and more of a city grid¹⁴ type layout, 你可以随意摆放它们，例如像露营一样，或按照城市街区来规划摆放，

　　or you can circle the wagons¹⁵, essentially¹⁶, and form these circular pods out of them, 或者你可以先把一些售货手推车围成一个圈，然后把这些房屋围到外面形成帐子，

　　which give you this semi-private communal¹⁷ area  这样一个半私密性的公共区域

　　for people to actually spill out into so they're not actually trapped inside these units. 会让住在里面的人们愿意出来走走，而不是一直呆在这些屋子里。

　　Now this fundamentally changes the way we respond to disasters, 所以这项发明从根本上改变了我们对灾难的反应，

　　because gone are the horrid¹⁸ conditions  因为之前那种很多人躺在小床上

　　inside a sports arena or a gymnasium, where people are crammed¹⁹ on these cots inside. 挤在体育场或体育馆里简易床的场景已经一去不复返了。

1 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 cram   

v.填塞，塞满，临时抱佛脚，为考试而学习

参考例句：

• There was such a cram in the church.教堂里拥挤得要命。
• The room's full,we can't cram any more people in.屋里满满的，再也挤不进去人了。

3 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

4 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

5 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

6 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

7 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

8 sketching   

n.草图

参考例句：

• They are sketching out proposals for a new road. 他们正在草拟修建新路的计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Imagination is busy sketching rose-tinted pictures of joy. “飞舞驰骋的想象描绘出一幅幅玫瑰色欢乐的场景。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

9 brainstorm   

vi.动脑筋，出主意，想办法，献计，献策

参考例句：

• The women meet twice a month to brainstorm and set business goals for each other.她们每个月聚会两次，在一起出谋献策，为各自制定生意目标。
• We can brainstorm a list of the most influential individuals in the company.我们可以集体讨论，列出该公司中最有影响的人员的名单。

10 congeal   

v.凝结，凝固

参考例句：

• The blood had started to congeal.血液已经开始凝结。
• Gear lubricants may congeal and channel in cold weather.天气冷时齿轮润滑油可能凝结而形成凹槽。

11 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

12 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

13 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。

14 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

15 wagons   

n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车

参考例句：

• The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
• They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。

16 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

17 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

18 horrid   

adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的

参考例句：

• I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
• The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

19 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。