In late January(1), for the first time(2), President Obama publicly(3) confirmed the American use of drone(4) strikes(5) in tribal areas in Pakistan. He answered a question(6) on the subject(7) during(8) a Google video conference with people around the United States.
He said, “I want to make sure(9) that people understand that actually(10), drones have not caused a huge(11) number of civilian casualties(12). For the most part, they have been very precise, precision strikes against(13) al-Qaida and their affiliates.”
Debate continues about how many(14) people, including civilians, have been killed(15) in those drone attacks. Drones are technically known as(16)unmanned(17)aerial vehicles(18), or UAVs. These aircraft(19), however(20), are not just used for air strikes, and they are not just used by governments.
Drones are useful(21) for aerial photography, including industrial tasks(22) like pipeline inspections. And human rights(24) activists, environmental(25) groups and journalists are increasingly(26) using drones in their work.
Drones can fly above(27) news events to capture images that reporters may not be able(28)to get close to(29) on the ground(30).Matt Waite is a journalism professor at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Students in his Drone Journalism Lab(31) are exploring different uses for drones in news reporting(32).
He says, “Drone journalism as an idea is less than a year old(33) at this point. The first instance(34) I saw(35) was a labor protest(36) in Poland(37) where a man had a remote-controlled helicopter and he put(38) a camera on it and he flew(39) it up and got(40) just a view of the protests from the air.
And you could see police moving into position to kind of block the protest route(41).” A video on YouTube shows images captured by the so-called(42) RoboKopter. A group of citizen(43) journalists in Moscow used a similar(44) drone camera to record(45) protests during Russian parliamentary elections.
And Professor Waite noted a recent
environmental case in the United States captured by someone flying his
remote-controlled airplane. “He spotted(46) a meat packing(47) plant(48) that was polluting(49) a nearby(50) creek(51) that ran into(52) a nearby river.
He had images of a river of blood(53) flowing out of(54)
this meat packing plant, which was against the law. And environmental
regulatory authorities were alerted to it. “Drone use in the United
States is now rare(55) because of federal restrictions on airspace(56). However, a new law calls for(57) easing
those restrictions by twenty fifteen. For VOA Special English, I’m Alex
Villarreal.(Adapted from a radio program broadcast 13Feb2012)
VOCABULARY
1. late January = final de Janeiro 2. for the first time = pela primeira vez 3. publicly = publicamente 4. drone = “zangão” (avião robô) 5. strikes = ataques 6. answered a question = respondeu uma pergunta 7. subject = assunto 8. during = durante 9. make sure = certificar-se 10. actually = na verdade 11. huge = imenso(a) 12. civilian casualties = baixas civis 13. against = contra 14. how many = Quantos(as) 15. killed = mortos 16. known as = conhecidos como 17. unmanned = não tripulados 18. aerial vehicles = veículos aéreos 19. aircraft = avião 20. however = contudo 21. useful = útil 22. tasks = tarefas 23. pipeline = oleoduto 24. human rights = direitos humanos 25. environmental = ambientais 26. increasingly = cada vez mais 27. fly above = voar sobre 28. may not be able = podem não ser capaz 29. to get close to = chegar perto de 30. ground = chão 31. Lab = laboratório 32. news reporting = cobertura jornalística 33. is less than a year old = tem menos de um ano de idade 34. instance = exemplo 35. saw = vi 36. labor protest = protesto trabalhista 37. Poland = Polônia 38. Put = colocou 39. Flew = voou 40. Got = obteve 41. Route = trajeto, rota 42. so-called = conhecidos como 43. citizen = cidadão 44. similar = semelhante 45. record = graver 46. spotted = observou, notou 47. meat packing = embalagem de carne 48. plant = usina 49. polluting = poluindo 50. nearby = das vizinhanças, próximo 51. creek = riacho 52. ran into = desaguava em (rio) 53. blood = sangue 54. flowing = fluindo para fora de 55. rare = raro 56. airspace = espaço aéreo 57. calls for easing= pede para amenizar