Question

    A recent experiment proves that bees can save time and energy when they fly around to different flowers.

Dr Nigel Raine, from the Royal Holloway University of London, has always been interested in finding out why animal behave like they do. He is also interested in bees. It was not a surprise when he and some other scientists from Queen Mary University of London discovered that bees can quickly solve a problem that takes computers many days.

Flowers make pollen (花粉), and when bees visit them, they carry the pollen to other flowers. The plants need the pollen to make seeds that will grow. Dr Raine notes that we get a lot of our food from plants, so it is important to know how the bees move around and take the pollen between flowers. The scientists wanted to examine the journey that the bees take and how they save energy when they do this. They completed the experiment on the roof of Queen Mary University, using artificial flowers and a large amount of nectar, a sweet liquid produced by flowers. They taught one bee to visit all the flowers in one place at the same time. When the bee got to know the location of the flowers well, they saw how it flew around and returned home with the nectar. After this, they changed the locations of the flowers. The scientists thought the bee would follow the route it knew already. This would mean that it followed a longer route than it needed to, and so it would use more energy. They watched the bee carefully as it travelled between the flowers in their new location, and they made notes. But in the experiment, the bee changed its route and flew a shorter distance.

The problem that the bee solved is similar to a maths puzzle called the ‘travelling salesman problem’. A salesman who goes to different places to sell things wants to travel the shortest distance. But he has to calculate the length of many possible routes to know which one is the shortest. A computer can calculate this but the experiment shows bees can do the same calculation quickly with a tiny brain. Scientists are very interested in how they do this. It would help us to understand how pollen is moved around. In addition, if they find this out, it could help us to improve communication networks. This might help humans to reduce traffic jams when there is an accident, for example.

1.The underlined word “nectar” in the third paragraph means_________.

A. powder B. honey

C. vitamin D. water

2.The researcher’s experiment found _________.

A. bees could manage to avoid accidents

B. bees showed signs of being very intelligent

C. bees could take the same route they knew before

D. bees were faster at calculating distance than computers

3.According to the last paragraph, the next step of the study is to discover how _______.

A. pollen is moved around

B. traffic jams can be reduced

C. bees can calculate so quickly

D. communication networks are improved

4.Where does this passage probably come from?

A. A novel. B. A website.

C. A science magazine. D. An advertisement.

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇科普类阅读。这篇文章主要讲了最近的一项实验证明，当蜜蜂飞到不同的花时，它们可以节省时间和精力。

1.词义猜测题。根据下文a sweet liquid produced by flowers.（一种由花产生的甜液体）对“nectar”的解释，可知“nectar”的意思是蜂蜜。A. powder粉末；B. honey蜂蜜；C. vitamin维生素；D. water水，故选B。

2.推理判断题。答案定位在第二段It was not a surprise when he and some other scientists from Queen Mary University of London discovered that bees can quickly solve a problem that takes computers many days.（当他和伦敦玛丽皇后大学的其他一些科学家发现蜜蜂可以快速地解决一个需要电脑很多天才能解决的问题时，这并不令人惊讶。）由此推断出研究人员的实验发现，蜜蜂比电脑计算距离更快，故选D。

3.推理判断题。答案定位在最后一段A computer can calculate this but the experiment shows bees can do the same calculation quickly with a tiny brain. Scientists are very interested in how they do this.（计算机可以计算出这个，但是实验表明蜜蜂可以用一个小小的大脑快速地做同样的计算。科学家们对他们如何做到这一点非常感兴趣。）由此推断出根据最后一段，研究的下一步是发现蜜蜂是如何快速计算的，故选C。

4.推理判断题。第一段A recent experiment proves that bees can save time and energy when they fly around to different flowers.是全文的主题句，结合全文内容，可知这篇文章主要讲了最近的一项实验证明，当蜜蜂飞到不同的花时，它们可以节省时间和精力。由此推断出这篇文章最可能出自一本科学杂志，故选C。