Question

    Dolphins, African gray parrots and some other animals understand the idea of “zero,” but researchers were surprised to find that honeybees also comprehend this abstract concept, considering the insects’ tiny brains, according to a new study. Honeybees have fewer than one million neurons (神经元), compared with the 86 billion neurons in humans—and yet, they grasp a concept that humans, by some measures, don’t start to understand before preschool.

The researchers set up two cards, each of which had a set of symbols on them, like triangles or circles. Then, they trained a group of the bees to fly to the card with the lower number of symbols. The bees quickly learned what the humans wanted them to do to get their delicious, sweet rewards. The trained bees were then shown a card that was empty and one that had symbols on it. There is no need for the bees to be trained to fly more often to the empty card—thus showing that they understood that “zero” was a number less than the others.

Although they flew more often to an empty card than to one that had one symbol on it, it became easier for them to distinguish when the symbols on the card increased in number. For example, they more often flew to the zero when the other card had four symbols than when it had one.

Perhaps these findings will explain the brain mechanism (机制) behind what allows us to understand the concept of “nothing,” Adrian Dyer, a researcher said. This understanding, in turn, could help in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) that also understands this concept. “If bees can understand ‘zero’ with a brain of less than a million neurons, it suggests there are simple, efficient ways to teach AI new tricks,” Dyer said in the statement.

1.What is a surprising finding for the researchers?

A. Many animals also comprehend the meaning of “zero”.

B. The number of neurons of honeybees is much smaller.

C. Honeybees can understand “zero” with their tiny brains.

D. Humans fail to recognize abstract ideas before preschool.

2.What can the bees do without further training?

A. Fly directly to the card with more symbols on it.

B. Fly less often to the card with fewer symbols on it.

C. Fly quite slowly to the card without anything on it.

D. Fly more often to the card without any symbol on it.

3.What does Adrian Dyer say about these findings?

A. They offer inspiration to the development of technology.

B. They enable people to understand more abstract concepts.

C. They suggest ways to teach humans some complex tricks.

D. They allow people to set a new type of brain mechanism.

4.What is the main idea of the text?

A. Honeybees know about the concept of “zero”.

B. Honeybees can understand much as humans do.

C. Honeybees will help to improve AI in the future.

D. Honeybees can be trained to comprehend “zero”.

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.A

4.A

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。通过实验表明，蜜蜂与其他许多动物一样，能理解诸如“零”这样的抽象概念，尤其是蜜蜂的脑容量相比人类来说很小。这给人类尤其是人工智能带来了启示。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段“...but researchers were surprised to find that honeybees also comprehend this abstract concept, considering the insects’ tiny brains...”可知，令研究人员惊奇的是蜜蜂的脑容量小，但它们却也能理解像“零”这样的抽象概念。故C选项正确。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段的内容，尤其是最后一句可知，蜜蜂能飞向没有符号的卡片是不需要被进一步训练的。故D选项正确。

3.推理判断题。根据最后一段“If bees can understand ‘zero’ with a brain of less than a million neurons, it suggests there are simple, efficient ways to teach AI new tricks. Dyer said in the statement.”可知，Adrian Dyer认为这些发现能够为科技的发展提供一些灵感。故A选项正确。

4.主旨大意题。通读全文可知，本文主要是在讲蜜蜂与其他许多动物一样，能理解诸如“零”这样的抽象概念。故A选项正确。