VOA标准英语2011--Crisis Mapping Helps with Disaster Relie

Crisis Mapping Helps with Disaster Relief

After devastating¹ natural disasters, mobile phone networks, satellites and other computer software are often used to help to pinpoint² where help is needed the most. They are crucial for the creation of crisis maps.
The power of the mobile phone and other social media became clear in the aftermath of the tsunami³ and earthquake in Japan. Just hours after disaster struck, Japanese volunteers used social media information to create a crisis map. The map indicated hazardous⁴ areas and emergency services. Hundreds of people each day posted updates to the map on the Internet, including information from radio stations.
Crisis maps also helped with relief efforts in Haiti. Thousands of text messages provided information to international aid organizations about shelter, food supplies and sanitation⁵. A mapping team helped pinpoint search and rescue requests for people trapped in the rubble⁶.
Sheldon Himelfarb is the director of peacebuilding at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington. "The word went out that if you texted a certain short code number with your call for help, it would be captured, mapped and it would enable responders to help... We saw very quickly how the emergency responders of all sorts, from the Red Cross to the military to the NGOs started to rely on this map," Himelfarb said.
Crisis mapping is also being used to keep track of events in Libya. Himelfarb says a map is helping⁷ the United Nations to follow a wide range of activities, including relief efforts and attacks by government and rebel forces.
"To show where the incidents of attacks are occurring, different kinds of attacks, different levels of violence...The crisis mappers are collecting vast amounts of information from social media, from YouTube, from Twitter, Facebook, and uploading it onto this map that the U.N. is saying is invaluable⁸ to them," Himelfarb said.
Himelfarb says crisis maps can be helpful in targeting people in need, but he is concerned the information can be wrong.
"You get all this information from the public, from online sources. How do you validate⁹ it? How do you know it's accurate? That's a real problem," he said.
He also says during a war, both sides could use some information to target their enemies and aid organizations.

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 pinpoint   

vt.准确地确定；用针标出…的精确位置

参考例句：

• It is difficult to pinpoint when water problems of the modern age began.很难准确地指出，现代用水的问题是什么时候出现的。
• I could pinpoint his precise location on a map.我能在地图上指明他的准确位置。

3 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

4 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

5 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

6 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。

9 validate   

vt.（法律）使有效，使生效

参考例句：

• You need an official signature to validate the order.你要有正式的签字，这张汇票才能生效。
• In order to validate the agreement,both parties sign it.为使协议有效，双方在上面签了字。