The unique solution to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

江蘇 張 成

2021 年，荷蘭阿姆斯特丹史基浦機場為了解決長期存在的鳥群干擾民航飛機的問題，“雇了”20 頭豬，讓它們每天在機場附近的草坪和莊稼亂跑，迫使鳥群無法在機場附近逗留。

主題語境：飛行安全 篇幅：351詞 建議用時：6分鐘

1 Birds have a history of troubling operations at airports around the world, but now Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) in the Netherlands has a solution—pigs.

2 The airport is surrounded by crop-growing farmland and wetlands that attract flocks of wild geese.As we all know after the US Airways flight 1549 had to land in the Hudson River, geese can be a murderer to aircraft.All 155 people onboard the Airbus A320-214 survived thanks to Captain “Sully” Sullenberger's quick decision-making and his ability to land the plane on the water safely.Without doubt, Amsterdam Schiphol wants to avoid any such incident.

3 Besides having 15 full-time bird controllers who drive around to ensure Schipol's six runways are bird-free, the Dutch airport has developed a unique solution.Between two of the airport's runways is a sugar beet (甜菜) farm.When the farmer harvests the crop,geese and other birds would arrive to feed on the leftover scraps and worms in the turned-over soil.

4 In an experiment, the airport hired pig farmer Josse Haarhuis to let 20 of his pigs stay on the site for six weeks.A pig-free area of similar size at the airport will be observed to compare the differences between the two locations.The airport has installed a special bird detecting radar to see whether the pigs' presence makes a difference.“The pigs were immediately brought to the field within 12 hours of the sugar beet harvest on Tuesday.They eat the crop remains so that there will be nothing left for the geese to get,” said Haarhuis.

5 Besides using noise cannons, scarecrows, and even lasers, the airport's primary bird defense has killed thousands of geese by shooting them.In 2014, airport workers killed 7000 geese.Due to their size and the fact that they fly in flocks, geese pose a severe threat to aircraft and are a danger if left to congregate around the airport.

6 If the pig experiment works out well, perhaps this will no longer be necessary.Let's hope that the pigs can do their job, and there is no longer a need for the geese to be killed in such large numbers.

Reading Check

Detail1.What was the cause of the US Airways flight 1549 incident?

A.Bad weather.B.A bird strike.

C.An engine failure.D.Human error.

Detail2.Which method did the airport use in their experiment?

A.Making comparisons.

B.Collecting lab data.

C.Having interviews.

D.Examining samples.

Inference3.What would be an expected result of the airport's experiment?

A.There would be no other birds on the airport but geese.

B.There would be no food left for the birds on the airport.

C.There would be no more sugar beet farms at the airport.

D.There would be less noise from airplanes at the airport.

Vocabulary 4.What does the underlined word “congregate” mean in paragraph 5?

A.Gather.B.Exist.

C.Ignore.D.Survive.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Difficult sentence in the text

The airport has installed a special bird detecting radar to see whether the pigs' presence makes a difference.機場安裝了特制的鳥群觀測雷達，以確定豬群的出現是否（對驅鳥）有作用。

【點石成金】本句是一個主從復合句。不定式to see 作目的狀語，whether 引導賓語從句。

Ⅱ.Text-centered chunks

be surrounded by 被……包圍

thanks to 多虧；由于

feed on 以……為食

make a difference 起作用；有影響

due to 由于；因為

pose a threat to 對……構成威脅

work out 進展順利；健身；計算出

in large numbers 大量地