Question

Bees seem to fly aimlessly as they search for the sugary liquid called nectar (花蜜). But their flight plans actually do have a pattern. Flowers act as the insects’ air-traffic controllers. And new research shows bees prefer flowers that aren’t too flashy.

Flowers give bees clues about how much a plant can offer. Those clues can be in the color of petals, in the type, in the smell or even in the electrical charge. All of these characteristics send signals to the bees, telling them whether to land or not, among which the colors play the most significant role. The insects keep track of the color of the flowers that are especially rich in nectar. They then visit more flowers of that color.

However, color can’t guarantee bees a good meal. It may change depending on the angle at which sunlight hits its petals. A yellow follower, for example, may look somewhat blue from one angle and red from another. Beverley Glover studies plants at the University of Cambridge in England. Glover and her colleagues showed that even when the color of petals looks similar, bees behave differently in searching for nectar. They started to guess that the strength of petals’ indescence (色彩斑斓) might be related to how bees find the petals.

Glover and her colleagues tested their hypothesis in the lab. In their experiment, they found that bees felt confused sometimes when the petals were very iridescent and that bees had no problem finding the flowers with more nectar when the petals were not very iridescent. The team shared its new findings in the March 21 Current Biology.

“At first glance, it’s very surprising because animals can usually detect a more vivid signal more easily,” says Klaus Lunau, a biologist in Germany, who was not involved in the study.

1.What can we know about the flight of bees?

A. They usually fly in a regular pattern.

B. They fly under the direction of flowers.

C. They usually fly without any purpose.

D. They fly to some very flashy flowers.

2.What is the most important clue for bees to search for nectar?

A. The petals’ type.    B. The followers’ smell.

C. The followers’ electrical charge.    D. The petals’ color.

3.What does the underlined word “hypothesis” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A. Discussion.    B. Method.

C. Assumption.    D. Invention

4.What is the new finding of the team?

A. Petals that are not very flashy are better for bees to make adjustments.

B. Petals of different color usually give different signals.

C. Petals that are vivid are detected by bees more easily.

D. Petals of different types make bees confused to find the right flower.

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.A

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。蜜蜂似乎在寻找一种叫做花蜜的含糖液体时无目的的飞行。但他们的飞行计划确实有一个模式。花扮演着昆虫的空中交通管制员。新的研究表明，蜜蜂更喜欢不太浮华的花朵。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段中But their flight plans actually do have a pattern. Flowers act as the insects’ air-traffic controllers. And new research shows bees prefer flowers that aren’t too flashy.可知，关于蜜蜂的飞行，我们能知道它们飞向花的方向。故选B。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段第一、二句Flowers give bees clues about how much a plant can offer. Those clues can be in the color of petals, in the type, in the smell or even in the electrical charge.可知，蜜蜂寻找花蜜的最重要线索是花瓣的颜色。故选D。

3.词义猜测题。根据第四段中Glover and her colleagues tested their hypothesis in the lab. In their experiment, they found that bees felt confused sometimes when the petals were very iridescent and that bees had no problem finding the flowers with more nectar when the petals were not very iridescent Glover和她的同事在实验室里测试了他们的假设，在他们的实验中，他们发现，当花瓣非常艳丽时，蜜蜂有时会感到困惑；当花瓣不是很亮时，蜜蜂就会发现有更多花蜜的花朵。因此推断画线词的意思是“假设”，故选C。

4.推理判断题。根据第四段中they found that bees felt confused sometimes when the petals were very iridescent and that bees had no problem finding the flowers with more nectar when the petals were not very iridescent.可知，这个团队的新发现是“不太光鲜的花瓣让蜜蜂调整会更好。”故选A。