(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Better Weather Predictions Coming to the Developing World
The International Business Machines Corporation, known as IBM, says it is making technology for precision weather predictions available to everyone.
The company said the new weather forecasts offer more details and bring a level of precision once available only in major industrial countries.
The forecasting tool is expected to help emergency officials better predict where severe storms will hit. It may also aid airline companies planning flight paths, as well as farmers caring for crops.
The new system creates weather forecasts more often and with finer details than what is available outside the United States, Europe and Japan.
Most forecasts have a resolution of 10 to 15 square kilometers and provide new information every six to 12 hours. IBM's Global High-Resolution Atmospheric Forecasting System goes down to 3 square kilometers and provides information every hour.
"That's providing a level of detail that we've not been able to see in parts of the world such as Southeast Asia, Africa as well as South America," notes Kevin Petty. He serves as director of science and forecasting at The Weather Company, which IBM owns.
That kind of precision can provide details of where and when extremely heavy rain will fall. That could be useful in emergency situations, and could help farmers decide when to plant, harvest and fertilize crops.
Better forecasts around worldwide
Fred Carr is emeritus meteorology professor at the University of Oklahoma, and was not involved with the project.
Carr says the United States has a similar high-resolution forecasting system, "but it's just for the U.S. because it takes so much computer time. To do it for the whole globe is a pretty significant achievement."
Carr added that it is possible to quickly collect observations from radar, airplanes and surface measurements in the United States. But he said it is not clear how IBM gets information from the other 98% of the world.
Carr said he believes there will be problems in getting information, so "sometimes those forecasts aren't going to be very accurate."
Users will be able to decide for themselves. The system now operates on the Weather.com website and The Weather Channel's application program for smartphones.
In the future, IBM hopes to improve its forecasts by collecting information from atmospheric pressure sensors used in such phones.
These sensors improve the precision of global positioning system, or GPS, technology. For example, they can help fitness tracking instruments measure how many steps a user has climbed.
IBM said it is not currently using this information but plans to offer users the chance to choose it.
Some privacy activists and governments have criticized technology companies for collecting this kind of information. The city of Los Angeles, California has brought a case against IBM for improperly using location information from Weather Channel app users.
I'm Jonathan Evans.
重点解析
重点讲解：
1. be known as 称为；叫做；
The disease is more commonly known as Mad Cow Disease.
这种疾病更通俗的名称是疯牛病。
2. care for 照料；照顾；护理；
She moved back home to care for her elderly parents.
她搬回家住，好照料年迈的双亲。
3. go down （价格、水平或数量）下降，下跌；
Crime has gone down 70 percent.
犯罪率下降了70%。
4. serve as 担任（职务）；
He served as a captain in the army.
他曾是一名陆军上尉。
参考译文
IBM公司为发展中国家提供更精准的天气预报
国际商业机器公司（简称IBM）表示，公司正在努力使每个人都能应用精准预测天气的技术。
该公司表示，新的天气预报技术不仅提供了更多细节，还提供了曾经只有主要工业国家才有的精确度。
这一预报工具将帮助应急事务官员更好地预测严重风暴会侵袭的地点。该工具还可以帮助航空公司规划航线、帮助农民照料作物。
与美国、欧洲和日本等国家采用的系统相比，新系统将发布更高频次、更加详细的天气预报。
大多数预报系统的分辨率为10到15平方公里，每6到12小时更新一次信息。IBM公司的全球高分辨率大气预报系统则将分辨率精细到3平方公里，每小时更新一次信息。
凯文·佩蒂指出：“这一系统提供了我们在东南亚、非洲和南美等地无法看到的详细信息。”佩蒂是IBM旗下天气公司的科学和预报部门主管。
这种精确度可以提供何时何地会迎来极端暴雨的详细信息。这在紧急情况下可能很有用，而且还能帮助农民决定何时种植、施肥以及收获。
全球范围内更好的天气预报
弗雷德·卡尔是奥克拉荷马大学的名誉气象教授，他并未参与这个项目。
卡尔表示，美国拥有类似的高分辨率预报系统，“但仅适用于美国，因为这需要花费大量的计算机时间。在全球应用这种系统是一项相当重要的成就。”
卡尔还表示，美国可以通过雷达、飞机以及地面测量迅速收集观察数据。但他说，目前并不清楚IBM如何从全球其他98%的地区获取信息。
卡尔说，他认为获取信息仍存在一些问题，因此，“有时预报信息并不是非常准确。”
用户将可以自行做出决定。该系统现在在Weather.com网站以及“天气频道”智能手机应用程序上运行。
IBM希望未来能通过收集手机上使用的大气压力传感器数据来改善预报准确度。
这些传感器提高了全球定位系统（简称GPS）技术的精确度。举例来说，它们能帮助健身追踪器测量用户爬了多少级台阶。
IBM表示，公司目前还未使用这些信息，但他们计划让用户有机会做出选择。
一些隐私权活动人士和政府指责科技公司收集此类信息。加州洛杉矶市已经因IBM不当使用“天气频道”用户的位置信息而对其提起诉讼。
乔纳森·埃文斯报道。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
