The unique solution to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

江苏 张 成

2021 年，荷兰阿姆斯特丹史基浦机场为了解决长期存在的鸟群干扰民航飞机的问题，“雇了”20 头猪，让它们每天在机场附近的草坪和庄稼乱跑，迫使鸟群无法在机场附近逗留。

主题语境：飞行安全 篇幅：351词 建议用时：6分钟

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.机场安装了特制的鸟群观测雷达，以确定猪群的出现是否（对驱鸟）有作用。

【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句。不定式to see 作目的状语，whether 引导宾语从句。

Ⅱ.Text-centered chunks

be surrounded by 被……包围

thanks to 多亏；由于

feed on 以……为食

make a difference 起作用；有影响

due to 由于；因为

pose a threat to 对……构成威胁

work out 进展顺利；健身；计算出

in large numbers 大量地