A biologist once criticized for stealing eggs from the nests of the rarest bird in the world has been awarded the “Nobel Prize” of conservation after his methods saved nine species from extinction.
Professor Carl Jones won the 2016 Indianapolis Prize --- the highest accolade in the field of animal conservation --- for his 40 years of work in Mauritius, where he saved an endangered kestrel from becoming the next Great Auk.
When the 61-year-old first travelled to the east African island in the 1970s, he was told to close down a project to save the Mauritius kestrel. At the time there were just four left in the wild, making it the rarest bird on Earth. However, he stayed, using the techniques of captive breeding (人工繁殖), which involved snatching eggs from the birds’ nests and hatching（孵化）them under incubators, prompting the mothers to lay another set of eggs in the wild.
A decade later, the number of Mauritius kestrels had soared to over 300 and today there are around 400 in the wild. The biologist has also been necessary in efforts to bring other rare species back from the edge of extinction, including the pink pigeon, echo parakeet and Rodrigues warbler.
Prof Jones was awarded the $250,000 (￡172,000) prize at a ceremony in London.
“As a young man in my 20s, I certainly didn't enjoy the stress and the tension of the criticism I received,” reflecting on the start of his career, he said the Maurutius kestrel project had been seen as a “dead loss” at the time. In the 1970s there was fierce opposition to the captive breeding techniques, with critics arguing that they were too risky and took the emphasis off breeding in the wild.
Prof Jones has devoted his whole life to his work, only becoming a father for the first time eight years ago, at 53. He said receiving the prize was particularly important to him, because it proved that his work to save birds was right.
28. What does the underlined word “accolade” mean in Paragraph 2?
A. return B. level C. honor D. research
29. According to the passage, Great Auk is ________.
A. an endangered bird B. an extinct bird
C. a popular bird D. a fierce bird
30. What can we know from the figures in Paragraph 4?
A. Taking eggs from the nests has worked well.
B. The wild environment for kestrel has changed a lot.
C. Kestrel has adapted to the life in the wild.
D. It’s difficult to protect kestrel.
31. Prof Jones’ idea of taking eggs from the birds’ nests ________.
A. was proved of no use B. was widely accepted
C. was promoted officially D. was criticized by some people
D
Many of us have reached in our pockets, feeling a vibration (振动), wrongly believing our mobile phones have just rung. The phenomenon even has a name: ‘phantom (幻觉的) vibration syndrome’—and found it is surprisingly common.
Now scientists believe that we are so alert (警觉) for phone calls and messages we are misinterpreting slight muscle spasms (痉挛）as proof of a call. Robert Rosenberger, an assistant professor at the Georgia Tech Institute of Technology has studied the delusional calls. He said sufferers describe a vague tingling feeling which they think is their mobile phone indicating it has received a text message or call while on ‘silent’. But when the device is retrieved, there was no one on the other end.
Dr. Rosenberger said he found so many people say, “This happens to me, but I thought I was the only one. I thought I was odd.” It seems that the syndrome particularly affects people at the beck and call of mobile phones or pagers. A 2010 study by Michael Rothberg and colleagues found that nearly 70 per cent of doctors at a hospital in Massachusetts suffered phantom vibrations. A more recent study of US college students found the figure was as high as 90 per cent.
While the odd feeling is widespread, it does not seem to be considered a grave problem. Dr. Rosenberger said: “It’s not actually a syndrome in a technical sense. That’s just the name that’s got stuck to it.” He added,” Only 2 per cent of people consider it a problem.”
While this phenomenon is widespread, the scientific community has not yet invested much effort in getting to the bottom of why we suffer phantom calls.
Dr. Rosenberger said: “People are guessing it has something to do with nervous energy. The cognitive（认知的）scientists are talking about brain chemistry, cognitive pathways changing. But it's not like they have brain scans to go on.” He said: “We have a phone call in our pocket all the time and it becomes sort of an extension of ourselves. We have this sort of readiness to experience a call. We feel something and we think, OK, that could be a call.”
32. Why do some people mistake slight muscle spasms for a call?
A. They all have a vivid imagination.
B. They are sensitive to calls and messages.
C. There are few calls and messages in their life.
D. Slight muscle spasms affect them more than other people.
33. Which of the following are more likely to have phantom vibration syndrome than others?
A. Doctors. B. University professors.
C. College students. D. The cognitive scientists.
34. In Dr. Rosenberger’s opinion, phantom vibration syndrome .
A. isn’t a kind of disease actually
B. is considered a problem by most people
C. is a serious problem ignored by people
D. has something to do with brain chemistry
35. What does the text mainly talk about?
A. Most people have phantom vibration syndrome.
B. How to keep away from phantom vibration syndrome.
C. How to reduce phantom phone vibrations.
D. People care too much about phantom phone vibrations.