Glass is a favored building material for modern architecture, yet it is also very dangerous for wild birds. Because they often cannot distinguish between glass and open air, millions of birds are harmed every year when they try to fly through glass windows. There are, however, several solutions that responsible businesses can use to prevent injuries to birds.
One-Way Glass
One solution is to replace the regular, clear glass with one-way glass that is transparent in only one direction. The occupants of the building can see out, but birds and others cannot see in. If birds cannot see through a window, they will understand that the glass forms a solid barrier and will not try to fly through it.
Colorful Designs
A second solution is to paint colorful lines or other designs on regular window glass. For example, a window could have a design of thin stripes painted over the glass. People would still be able to see through the openings in the design where there is no paint, while birds would see the stripes and thus avoid trying to fly through the glass. Architects can be encouraged to include colorful painted patterns on glass as part of the general design of buildings.
Magnetic Field
The third solution is to create an artificial magnetic field to guide birds away from buildings. Humans use an instrument called a magnetic compass to determine directions—either north, south, east, or west. Bird research has shown that birds have a natural ability to sense Earth's magnetic fields; this ability works just like a compass, and it helps birds navigate in the right direction when they fly. A building in a bird flight path can be equipped with powerful electromagnets that emit magnetic signals that steer birds in a direction away from the building.
Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they cast doubt on the specific solutions proposed in the reading passage.
In the lecture, the professor casts doubt on the reading passage’s idea that businesses can use one-way glass, colorful designs, or artificial magnetic fields to prevent birds from colliding with windows. The professor asserts that none of these solutions would be effective in stopping bird injuries.
Firstly, the passage claims that replacing regular glass with one-way glass would help birds recognize it as a solid barrier and prevent collisions. By contrast, the professor asserts that one-way glass reflects like a mirror from the outside. Birds cannot understand reflections, so if they see the reflection of the sky or trees, they will mistake them for real objects and attempt to fly through, making one-way glass just as dangerous as regular glass.
Secondly, the author of the passage points out that painting colorful patterns on glass, such as stripes, would prevent birds from trying to fly through windows. However, the lecture notes that birds will still perceive the unpainted spaces as open holes and attempt to fly through them. To be effective, the unpainted spaces would have to be extremely small, but that would make the interior of the building too dark for human occupants, making this solution impractical.
Lastly, the reading states that buildings could emit artificial magnetic fields to steer birds away, as birds use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate. On the contrary, the professor contends that birds only rely on their magnetic sense for long-distance migration, such as traveling between warm and cold regions. For short-distance flights, such as moving around a city, birds navigate using their vision and light perception. Therefore, an artificial magnetic field would have little to no effect in preventing window collisions.
会员福利内容准备中，丰富答题思路即将上线