VOA标准英语2008年-Mobile Phone Records Show People Rarely Stray

By Jessica Berman
Washington
04 June 2008

Researchers say a new study of mobile phone records shows people rarely stray from familiar areas. Researchers say the findings could be useful to urban planners addressing problems as varied¹ as traffic forecasting and emergency preparedness. VOA's Jessica Berman reports from Washington.

The study tracked the mobile phone use and movements of 100,000 people over a six-month period.

The participants were selected from a pool of six million mobile phone users in an undisclosed country.

Each time a call was made or received, or a text message recorded, investigators² noted³ the location of the relay tower servicing the mobile phone. They also recorded calls to two locations most frequently used by the mobile phone user.

Researchers found the calls were usually made to and from home and work within a five-kilometer radius⁴ or area around the tower.

Using the same model, they could also tell what percentage of calls were made from a distant location.

Marta Gonzales of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts is the study's lead author. Gonzales says predictably, mobile phone users by and large stayed close to home.

"We really found that in fact 70 percent of the time, most of the people were found in two preferred locations," she said.

Gonzales says less than one percent of cell phone users regularly ventured 500 kilometers from home.

Gonzales says mobile phone records provide an easy and readily available means of measuring the movement of populations, which she says could be useful to urban planners in a number of ways.

"When you have epidemics⁵ in a given place, you want to know which are going to be the most connected place according to the transport of people from one place to the other so you can take measures in advance," she added.

With the number of mobile phones worldwide estimated to be three billion and growing, mobile phones have proved indispensable in coordinating⁶ rescue and relief efforts during natural disasters such as the recent Chinese earthquake.

The study on mobile phone usage is published in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

1 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 radius   

n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限

参考例句：

• He has visited every shop within a radius of two miles.周围两英里以内的店铺他都去过。
• We are measuring the radius of the circle.我们正在测量圆的半径。

5 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

6 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白