TED演讲:科技为人道主义带来的变化

 　　The humanitarian¹ model has barely changed since the early 20th century. 人道主义的模型自从20世纪初期就几乎没有改变过

　　Its origins are firmly rooted in the analog² age. 它的起源在模拟时代就根深蒂固了

　　And there is a major shift coming on the horizon.  海平线即将发生重大的改变

　　The catalyst³ for this change  这个的催化剂是

　　was the major earthquake that struck Haiti on the 12th of January in 2010. 发生在2010年1月12日的海地地震加快了海平线的变化

　　Haiti was a game changer.  海地地震改变了环境的规则

　　The earthquake destroyed the capital of Port-au-Prince,  这次地震摧毁了海地首都太子港

　　claiming the lives of some 320,000 people,  导致32万人丧生

　　rendering⁴ homeless about 1.2 million people. 120万人无家可归

　　Government institutions were completely decapitated, including the presidential palace. 政府机构包括总统府均已倒塌

　　I remember standing⁵ on the roof of the Ministry⁶ of Justice in downtown Port-au-Prince. 我记得我站在太子港市中心司法部大楼的屋顶

　　It was about two meters high,  屋顶大概有2米高

　　completely squashed by the violence of the earthquake. 已经被地震彻底粉碎

　　For those of us on the ground in those early days,  对于我们这些地震后早期达到现场的人来说

　　it was clear for even the most disaster-hardened veterans that Haiti was something different. 很显然对于那些救灾老手来说海地的情况有所不同

　　Haiti was something we hadn't seen before.  海地的情况是我们未曾见过的

　　But Haiti provided us with something else unprecedented⁷.  但海地也为我们提供了前所未有的经验

　　Haiti allowed us to glimpse into a future of what disaster response might look like 海地让我们了解到，人们在未来高度相连的世界里

　　in a hyper-connected world where people have access to mobile smart devices. 如何应对灾难，去帮助他们逃离灾难

　　Because out of the urban devastation⁸ in Port-au-Prince 由于城市之外的太子港被摧毁

　　came a torrent⁹ of SMS texts -- people crying for help, 大量的手机发出短信--人们呼救，

　　beseeching¹⁰ us for assistance, sharing data, offering support, looking for their loved ones. 寻求帮助，分享信息，提供支持，寻找他们爱的人

　　This was a situation that traditional aid agencies had never before encountered. 这种情况是传统的救援机构未曾遇到的

　　We were in one of the poorest countries on the planet,  我们身处全世界最贫穷的国家之一

　　but 80 percent of the people had mobile devices in their hands. 但是80%的人都拥有手机

　　And we were unprepared for this, and they were shaping the aid effort. 我们没有预料到，他们塑造了援助工作的模式

　　Outside Haiti also, things were looking different.  海地之外，情况也不一样

　　Tens of thousands of so-called digital volunteers were scouring¹¹ the Internet, 成千上万所谓的“数码志愿者”在网络上搜寻

　　converting tweets that had already been converted from texts 将短信信息转换成推特信息

　　and putting these into open-source maps,  然后放到开放资源的地图上

　　layering them with all sorts of important information -- people like Crisis Mappers and Open Street Map --  把它们和其他各种重要信息结合--这些人就如同危机地图和公开街道地图的绘图者--

　　and putting these on the Web for everybody 然后把这些信息放在网上供大家

　　the media, the aid organizations and the communities themselves to participate in and to use. 包括媒体，救援组织和社会群体本身让大家参与使用

　　Back in Haiti, people were increasingly turning to the medium of SMS. 在海地，人民越来越倾向使用短信

　　People that were hungry and hurting were signaling their distress¹², were signaling their need for help. 那些饥饿和受伤的人们发出遇难的信号，发出求救的信号

　　On street sides all over Port-au-Prince,  在太子港的街道边

　　entrepreneurs sprung up offering mobile phone charging stations. 涌现出很多创业者提供手机充电站

　　They understood more than we did people's innate¹³ need to be connected. 他们比我们更懂得人与生俱来的互相连接的需要

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 analog   

n.类似物，模拟

参考例句：

• The analog signal contains high-frequency video information,which helps make up the picture.模拟信号包括有助于构成图像的高频视频信息。
• The analog computer measures continuously,without proceeding step by step.模拟计算机不是一步一步地进行，而是连续地进行量度。

3 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。

4 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

8 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 torrent   

n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发

参考例句：

• The torrent scoured a channel down the hillside. 急流沿着山坡冲出了一条沟。
• Her pent-up anger was released in a torrent of words.她压抑的愤怒以滔滔不绝的话爆发了出来。

10 beseeching   

adj.恳求似的v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She clung to her father, beseeching him for consent. 她紧紧挨着父亲，恳求他答应。 来自辞典例句
• He casts a beseeching glance at his son. 他用恳求的眼光望着儿子。 来自辞典例句

11 scouring   

擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤

参考例句：

• The police are scouring the countryside for the escaped prisoners. 警察正在搜索整个乡村以捉拿逃犯。
• This is called the scouring train in wool processing. 这被称为羊毛加工中的洗涤系列。

12 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

13 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。