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2017 ‫מועד פברואר‬ - 41 - ‫ פרק ראשו ן‬- ‫ אנגלית‬

Text II (Questions 18-22)

(1) Towards the end of the nineteenth century, a wealthy manufacturer named Eugene
Schieffelin released a hundred starlings into New York City's Central Park. At the time,
he was chairman of the American Acclimatization Society, an organization dedicated to
introducing European plants and animals into North America. His dream was to bring

(5) to the United States every bird mentioned in the works of English playwright William
Shakespeare.

For the first few years after they were set loose, the starlings rarely strayed beyond
Central Park and the surrounding area. But then they began to spread their wings.
Their range expanded, and by 1950 starlings could be found from coast to coast, as far

(10) north as Canada's Hudson Bay and as far south as Mexico. As they adapted to climates
as varied as those of snowy Alaska and subtropical Florida, their numbers surged.
Today there are more than 200 million of them in North America.

Even bird lovers admit that starlings have become quite a problem. Apart from the
fact that they reproduce with alarming vigor, starlings are known to attack bluebirds,

(15) woodpeckers and other birds, often driving them out of their natural habitats.
Furthermore, starlings are willing and able to eat anything. Roosting in hordes of up to
a million, they can devour vast quantities of crops. A cloud of starlings has been known
to gobble up 20 tons of potatoes in a single day. As one ornithologist notes, "Starlings
do nothing in moderation.'' The birds also wreak havoc with air traffic, sometimes with

(20) tragic results. In 1960, an airplane that had just taken off from Boston's Logan Airport
plummeted to the ground when a flock of 10,000 starlings flew into its path, crippling
its engines.

Eugene Schieffelin's successful introduction of the starling into North America
continues to haunt Americans to this day. As is so often the case when species are

(25) imported across oceans and continents, Schieffelin was not thinking about possible
long-term repercussions. His project and its aftermath are a good lesson on the
consequences of meddling with nature.

Questions

18. An appropriate title for this text would be -

(1) Starlings: The Danger of Interfering With Nature
(2) The American Acclimatization Society: Linking Europe and North America
(3) Central Park and Beyond: The Spread of the Starling
(4) Eugene Schieffelin: Fulfilling a Dream

)‫© כל הזכויות שמורות למרכז ארצי לבחינות ולהערכה (ע"ר‬

.‫ בלא אישור בכתב מהמרכז הארצי לבחינות ולהערכה‬- ‫ כולה או חלקים ממנה‬- ‫ או ללמדה‬,‫אין להעתיק או להפיץ בחינה זו או קטעים ממנה בכל צורה ובכל אמצעי‬