VOA标准英语2010年-Changing the World, One Design at a Ti

Emily Pilloton was set on her path in life early on, by her entrepreneur father and a business-oriented mother who stressed the importance of helping¹ others.

"I somehow ended up as a sort of perfect cross-section of the two of them," she says, "wanting to be an entrepreneur but also having a sort of humanitarian² spirit."

With degrees in architecture and product design, Pilloton started to make 'green' furniture in Chicago. She soon recognized that she wouldn't be able to make much of a living doing that, so she moved back home to the San Francisco Bay area.

Pilloton makes a new friend in Kgautswane, South Africa where Project H distributed the hippo roller.

Life-changing epiphany

A retail³ clothing company hired Pilloton as a store designer. But three weeks into the job, after a lengthy⁴, heated group discussion about doorknobs, Pilloton realized how misdirected her design skills had become.

She recalls that was the moment she made a promise to herself, "that from that day forward, I was only going to work on design projects that mattered, to really apply my skill set to address the social, humanitarian issues."

So Pilloton went to work as managing editor of a website devoted⁵ to the future of design and its use in a socially responsible way. With Inhabitat.com, Pilloton had a forum⁶ where she could articulate her principles and values. As she did so, she gathered a network of like-minded colleagues.

New design focus

In 2008, Pilloton started her own organization, Product Design Initiatives for Humanity, Habitats, Health and Happiness, better known as Project H. It's a collaboration⁷ of designers, architects and builders who want to use design to make the world a better place.

"It was really, honestly, a way for me personally to just put a stake in the ground and say, 'This is the moment when we're going to turn our criticism into action,'" Pilloton says.

With a relatively⁸ tiny budget, Project H has gone from an idea in Pilloton's head to an organization with hundreds of members around the world, nine local chapters and 20 completed projects, with 25 more in the works.

An early project was a book of inventions Pilloton compiled called, "Design Revolution: One Hundred Products That Empower People."

After setting the prescription⁹ for each lens, the wearer can remove the syringes.
Adjustable¹⁰ eyeglasses and rolling water barrels

Pilloton's choices for the book include such devices as 'adaptive eye care.' The affordable¹¹ eyeglasses have a syringe on each earpiece, filled with a special fluid. The wearer can twist a knob to control the amount of liquid in each lens.

"So as you adjust the amount of liquid in that lens," says Pilloton. "It changes the concavity of the lens and that's the prescription. Literally¹², you can set your own prescription in 15 seconds."

Another Pilloton favorite is the hippo roller, which Project H helped distribute in South Africa. The water transport barrel is designed to cut down on trips to a water source that may be as far away as 10 kilometers.

Villagers in Kgautswane, South Africa, head to the river with their new hippo rollers.

"Instead of carrying water on your head, which is not just inefficient¹³ but taxing on the human body, you can push along the ground," says Pilloton. She says the hippo roller makes bringing up to 83 liters of water back to a village safer and more efficient.

Taking her mission on the road

Pilloton's "Design Revolution" was released in August. But instead of going on a traditional book tour, she decided¹⁴ to do something different to promote her book and her belief that good design can change the world.

She packed up a vintage Airstream travel trailer with 40 inventions featured in the book, and set off on a 75-day cross-country tour. At each stop, she shows off the products and what they can do.

The traveling exhibition of humanitarian design solutions is pulled by a biodiesel-powered truck.

She says it helps to be traveling in a hard-to-miss silver trailer with a bright pink stripe. "We wanted to use it as a way to bring some fun and accessibility to the content," she says, "to show up in places all around the country, primarily at design schools and high schools, to really catalyze¹⁵ the next generation of design thinkers and creative problem solvers."

Creative problem solving will continue even after the 'Design Revolution Road Show' ends in mid-April. The trailer will be parked in a poor rural community in North Carolina, where Project H volunteers are already working with teachers, artists, builders and architects. 

Emily Pilloton is making the state her organization's home for the next couple years, to focus on creating innovative¹⁶ designs to improve education.
 

1 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。

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

4 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

5 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

6 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

7 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

10 adjustable   

adj.可调整的，可校准的

参考例句：

• More expensive cameras have adjustable focusing.比较贵的照相机有可调焦距。
• The chair has the virtue of being adjustable.这种椅子具有可调节的优点。

11 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

13 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 catalyze   

v.催化

参考例句：

• They are highly specific for the reactions that they catalyze.它们对被它们催化的反应有很强的专一性。
• They are highly specific for the reactions that they catalyze.它们对被它们催化的反应有很强的专一性。

16 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。