VOA常速英语2019--新技术可让电话线路在灾难期间保持通畅

New Tech Keeps Phone Lines Open During Disasters

Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico in 2017 and the region is still recovering nearly two years later. The storm destroyed power and communication grids¹, leaving victims without a way to get information or call for help.It’s a problem Brian Knouse and some friends set out to solve.It’s not just that the communication were able to execute now.It is not as good as, it could be that is true, but it’s also that during disasters, communications often somewhat are completely disrupted which just makes dealing² with a really really complicated incident.That’s much harder, and more costly³ both in terms of lives and money.His simple elegant solution won the IBM sponsored contest Call for Code last year,and Knouse and his team just finished their first large scale pilot deployment⁵ of Project Owl⁶ in Puerto Rico.These little devices create a Wi-Fi network, just like your Wi-Fi router in your house.

飓风玛丽亚在2017年席卷波多黎各，在其后两年时间内该地区仍然在恢复。风暴摧毁了电力和通信系统，受害者因而无法获取信息、寻求帮助。这是Brian Knouse和他一些朋友打算解决的问题。这不仅仅是是否能够立即恢复通信的问题。这比不上、这有可能是真的，但是也是通信常常在灾害期间某种程度上被中断的问题，通信中断的问题十分难以解决。从生活和资金角度而言，这个问题更困难、花费更高。他简练的解决方案赢得了IBM赞助的“代码集结号”的竞赛，Knouse和他的团队刚刚在波多黎各部署完他们的第一个大型试点项目猫头鹰项目。这些小设备可以创建Wi-Fi网络，就像您家中的Wi-Fi路由器一样。

And just like your Wi-Fi router in your house, you can connect to it with your phone, you can also connect to it with your laptop or any other like consumer electronics device.To test the Owls⁷, the team deployed⁸ Owl boxes every couple of hundred meters in effect creating a giant Wi-Fi network that could cover the entire island even when communication grids go down.It’s basically just a way to take in a lot of data about an incident.You can think during a category-5 hurricane, like chaos⁹ and misinformation is pervasive,so it takes in a lot of data through API’s, through manual input¹⁰ from first responders, government officials, civilians¹¹ on the ground, takes in a lot of information about an event and just paints a really clear operating picture of what’s going on.

就像您家中的Wi-Fi路由器一样，您可以使用手机连接它，也可以使用笔记本电脑或任何其他类似的电子消费产品连接它。为了测试“猫头鹰”，该团队每隔几百米就部署了猫头鹰盒子，创造了一个巨大的Wi-Fi网络，即使在通信网格出现故障时也可以覆盖整个岛屿。它基本上只是一种收集大量事件数据的方法。想象一下，在5级飓风期间，错误混乱的信息无处不在，所以它通过API收集大量数据，手动输入从首位发声者、政府官员和在场平民处收集的事件相关的信息，并且清楚地描绘出现场发生了什么。

Anyone with a phone or computer can access the network and call for help.Emergency responders can keep track of supplies and personnel operating in disaster zones. Each Owl has enough battery to operate for a week, but now says it would be simple to add a little solar charger to make them last indefinitely or even put them up before a disaster.They’re optimized¹² for rapid deployment, however, we do believe it would be very useful to deploy⁴ them before.The analogy I like to use is, you know, I’m on a Mac here, and if I yanked out the power cord that’s like magnetically clipped in.My Mac doesn’t shut off it just immediately switches to battery power.These could be redundant¹³ networks in the same sort of way.The team has at least four more field tests scheduled before the end of this year.

只要有电话或电脑，人们就可以连上网络寻求帮助。紧急救援人员可以跟踪灾区的供应和操作人员。每个猫头鹰电池的电量都足以运行一周，如果加上一个太阳能充电器，就能很容易地让它们持续保持有电状态，甚至可以在灾难发生前将它们装置好。为了快速部署，它们已经得到了优化，但是我们还是认为在灾害前部署会比较有用。我喜欢用这个来类比，你看，我用的苹果电脑，如果我把因为磁力夹在充电口的电源线拔出来，我的苹果不会关机，只是立即切换到了电池模式。同理，这些也可能是冗余的网络。该团队在今年年底前至少安排了四场现场测试。

1 grids   

n.格子( grid的名词复数 )；地图上的坐标方格；（输电线路、天然气管道等的）系统网络；（汽车比赛）赛车起跑线

参考例句：

• Typical framed structures are beams, grids, plane and space frames or trusses. 典型构架结构为梁、格栅、平面的和空间的框架或桁架。 来自辞典例句
• The machines deliver trimmed grids for use or stock. 这种机器铸出修整过的板栅，以供使用或储存。 来自辞典例句

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

5 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

6 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

7 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句

8 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

9 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

10 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

11 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

12 optimized   

adj.最佳化的，（使）最优化的v.使最优化，使尽可能有效( optimize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We are often asked whether consumer Web sites should be optimized for beginners or intermediates. 我们常常被问到这样的问题：消费类网站究竟应该为新手而优化，还是应该为中间用户而优化？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• GOOGLE Advertising optimized sequence, greatly increasing the advertising effect. 优化了GOOGLE广告位排列顺序，大大增加了广告效果。 来自互联网

13 redundant   

adj.多余的，过剩的；(食物)丰富的；被解雇的

参考例句：

• There are too many redundant words in this book.这本书里多余的词太多。
• Nearly all the redundant worker have been absorbed into other departments.几乎所有冗员，都已调往其他部门任职。