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VOA慢速英语2013 菲律宾应对自然灾害

时间:2013-11-18 11:32:41

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AS IT IS 2013-10-31 Philippines Plans for Disasters 菲律宾应对自然灾害

Hello.  It is nice to be with you again.  I’m Jim Tedder1 in Washington.  Today we travel to the Philippines to hear how officials are using technology to plan for natural disasters.  In the second part of the show, we turn our attention to health news, and the fight against the disease malaria2.  Listen carefully, and use what you hear to learn or improve your English.  As It Is … is coming your way. 

The Philippines often suffers more natural disasters than other countries. Philippine disaster risk planners have begun using a new tool to make maps of at risk areas in Manila. This technology will help identify weak structures, measure population density4 and predict financial losses should disaster strike.

The Philippines lies on tectonic plates at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The movement of tectonic plates can cause earthquakes and volcanic5 activity. Other natural disasters have resulted from tropical storms and heavy rain.

Over the years, different maps have shown active fault lines and places where flooding could happen. Recently, the national government in the Philippines gave maps to officials in Metropolitan6 Manila. The maps show the effects of earthquakes, wind damage from storms and flooding from heavy rain.

The scenarios8 – or possible situations -- were made with LiDAR, a sensing technology that lights up buildings and other objects with lasers.

Renato Solidum heads the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. His office produced the risk analysis of earthquake scenarios. He says these new maps help planners with what he calls their “disaster imagination.”

“Sometimes in order to convince decision-makers and even(other) people to do things right away is, you have to show how many people will die, how many buildings will suffer, how many millions of pesos would you need to rehabilitate9 (restore) or replace this. You need damage or impact figures, rather than the threat.”

In the risk analysis project, one scenario7 shows a 7-point-2 earthquake in the Manila area would result in 37,000 deaths. The damage would cost an estimated 56 million dollars to repair.

The Philippines not only suffers from natural disasters. Its population centers have factors, or issues, that increase the chance of risk. They include fast growth and violations10 of rules like building codes. Other concerns include poor people living in areas that often flood, and poor solid-waste treatment.

Researchers on the project created what they call an “exposure database.” It combines population and structural11 information, such as a building’s age and where development has spread. In exchange for getting the computer software, city planners have to add details from their localities to the database.

Ishmael Narag is a researcher with the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. He says being prepared for disasters does not have to depend on technology. He says smaller, poorer communities can use available information from population counts and other studies. He says this information can help them come up with their own estimate of risk.

Herbert Bautista is the mayor of Quezon City and president of the League of Cities of the Philippines. He calls the new maps and information database, “a big deal for local government.”  He says this new tool will help local governments obey a national law that requires land-use plans to include risk areas.  Mr. Bautista says the information can help the government stop developers from trying to build homes on fault lines or soil that easily takes in water.

And, Mr. Narag says getting information from cities will be important to the success of using the new tool for disaster reduction planning. In his words, “The science is only as good as what the date could give, so it’s very important that this is communicated to the local government.

The Australian and Philippine governments made possible the project that led to the creation of the maps and the data base. Financing came from the Australian Agency for International Development.

Malaria Fight Continues

Attacking mosquitoes early in their development may help with efforts to control malaria. The disease kills an estimated 660,000 people every year, mostly in Asia and in areas south of the Sahara Desert. Steve Ember joins us with the latest information.

One way to prevent malaria is by using mosquito nets treated with long-lasting insecticides. Another way is to spray such chemicals inside buildings. Both methods target adult mosquitoes. However, the insects are developing resistance to the chemicals.

Another method targets mosquito larvae12, the young, not yet fully3 developed mosquito. This method is called larval source management, or LSM.

Recently, researchers examined 13 studies of LSM from eight countries.

Lucy Tusting is with the London School of Hygiene13 and Tropical Medicine. She says the new research is important because a number of African and other countries are using larval source management.  However, she says, opinions differ about the value of LSM and where it should be used.

“There’s a real lack of consensus14 on how effective the method can be and in which settings it’s appropriate.”

Targeting mosquitoes early would seem to be a valuable addition to any control program. But Lucy Tusting says it is not easy to decide whether to use the method. 

“First of all, we do have very, very effective existing methods of malaria control.  Long-lasting insecticide-treated nets and indoor residual15 spraying are both highly effective.”

She says these methods have been a major reason for the successes in malaria control in recent years. But because of those successes, scientists believe there has been less need to look at other ways to fight the disease. Fewer studies have been organized. 

The World Health Organization has released guidelines, suggestions, on the use of LSM.  Currently the organization does not support of using larvacides in rural sub-Saharan Africa unless there are conditions that limit the habitats of mosquito larvae.

VOA’s Steve Ember with some important information about the fight against malaria. 

And I’m Jim Tedder in Washington, thanking you for spending some time with us on this last Thursday of October.  It is a special day in the United States, and in many other parts of the world.  It’s Halloween, or “All Hallow’s Eve.”  Young and old alike dress up in scary costumes and either attend parties, or go door-to-door saying, “Trick or treat,” and asking for candy.

Historians say it is a very old holiday thatstarted in Europe 1400 years ago.  So to one and all, “Happy Halloween” from all of us at VOA.  More learning English programs are right around the corner, as is world news, at the beginning of the hour.

 


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 tedder 2833afc4f8252d8dc9f8cd73b24db55d     
n.(干草)翻晒者,翻晒机
参考例句:
  • Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆?特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
  • Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆?泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网
2 malaria B2xyb     
n.疟疾
参考例句:
  • He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
  • Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。
3 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
4 density rOdzZ     
n.密集,密度,浓度
参考例句:
  • The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
  • The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。
5 volcanic BLgzQ     
adj.火山的;象火山的;由火山引起的
参考例句:
  • There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
  • Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。
6 metropolitan mCyxZ     
adj.大城市的,大都会的
参考例句:
  • Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
  • Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。
7 scenario lZoxm     
n.剧本,脚本;概要
参考例句:
  • But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
  • This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。
8 scenarios f7c7eeee199dc0ef47fe322cc223be88     
n.[意]情节;剧本;事态;脚本
参考例句:
  • Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者,根据一些事故解说,石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
  • Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样,我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
9 rehabilitate 2B4zy     
vt.改造(罪犯),修复;vi.复兴,(罪犯)经受改造
参考例句:
  • There was no money to rehabilitate the tower.没有资金修复那座塔。
  • He used exercise programmes to rehabilitate the patients.他采用体育锻炼疗法使患者恢复健康。
10 violations 403b65677d39097086593415b650ca21     
违反( violation的名词复数 ); 冒犯; 违反(行为、事例); 强奸
参考例句:
  • This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
  • These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。
11 structural itXw5     
adj.构造的,组织的,建筑(用)的
参考例句:
  • The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
  • The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。
12 larvae w2CxP     
n.幼虫
参考例句:
  • Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
  • The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。
13 hygiene Kchzr     
n.健康法,卫生学 (a.hygienic)
参考例句:
  • Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
  • He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。
14 consensus epMzA     
n.(意见等的)一致,一致同意,共识
参考例句:
  • Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗?
  • What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么?
15 residual SWcxl     
adj.复播复映追加时间;存留下来的,剩余的
参考例句:
  • There are still a few residual problems with the computer program.电脑程序还有一些残留问题。
  • The resulting residual chromatism is known as secondary spectrum.所得到的剩余色差叫做二次光谱。

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