Question

    Both honeybees and ants are social insects that live in groups called colonies. They survive by means of their collective intelligence. Their decision-making power is distributed throughout the group; that is, no one ant or bee makes decisions for the group. Instead, they work together. As Deborah M. Gordon, a biologist at Stanford University, says,” Ants aren't smart. Ant colonies are.”

The same is true for bee colonies. Although bees and ants are quite different physically, they have a lot in common in terms of their social behavior. Specifically, honeybees and ants have similar roles within the colony, both have communication systems, and both have the capacity for learning.

Ants communicate by using chemicals called pheromones, which can alert others to danger or to a food source. For example, when worker ants find a promising source, they let the rest of the colony know how to find it by leaving a trail of pheromones on the way back to the colony. The other ants pick up the message using their sense of smell. Bees, on the other hand, use movement to communicate with each other. Worker bees send messages to each other by means of a “dance”. Different speeds and movements send different messages. For example, when worker bees called scouts go out to find a new home for the colony, they return and do a dance for the other worker bees that indicates the location of the new home and how suitable it is. The faster the scouts dance, the better the new location is.

Honeybees and ants are both capable of learning. One Chinese study found that bees can be trained to learn and remember a route to a food source. The researchers also found that bees can be taught to recognize hidden objects and use the concepts of “sameness” and “difference” to accomplish certain tasks. Ants take this one step further. Recent American research has shown that ants not only have the ability to learn, but also can teach their foraging skills to other younger ants.

They observed that older ants accompany young ants in search of food and teach them the route and how to avoid obstacles.

As we can see, the social behavior of honeybees and ants is quite similar. Both coordinate(协调) complex actions and accomplish survival tasks by cooperating in groups consisting of many individuals. Unintelligent as they may be as individuals, as groups they often show amazing brilliance as they go about their everyday activities.

1.What do ants and bees have in common?

A.They live in similar-sized colonies.

B.They make use of collective intelligence.

C.They have small leadership groups that make all decisions.

D.They use the same methods to communicate with each other.

2.What does the speed of a bee's dance indicate?

A.The quality of a new colony location.

B.The distance to a neighboring colony.

C.The discovery of a new food source.

D.The direction to a potential food source.

3.In paragraph 4, how does the author demonstrate the idea that Honeybees and ants are both capable of learning?

A.By using statistics.

B.By explaining reasons.

C.By referencing opinions.

D.By presenting study findings.

4.What is the benefit of collective intelligence?

A.It allows the colony to reproduce more rapidly.

B.It improves work cooperation within the colony.

C.It reduces the division of labor among members.

D.It enables individuals to teach each other new skills.

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.D

4.B

【解析】

这是一篇科普类说明文。蜜蜂和昆虫都是群居的昆虫，它们协调复杂的行动，依靠集体智慧生存。尽管它们作为个体和群体可能并不聪明，但在日常活动中经常表现出惊人的聪明才智。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段中They survive by means of their collective intelligence. Their decision-making power is distributed throughout the group; that is, no one ant or bee makes decisions for the group. Instead, they work together.“他们依靠集体智慧生存。他们的决策权分散在整个团体;也就是说，没有一只蚂蚁或蜜蜂为群体做决定。相反，他们一起工作。”可知，它们的共同点是利用集体的智慧。故选B。

2.细节理解题。根据第三段最后一句The faster the scouts dance, the better the new location is.“侦察兵跳得越快，新地点就越好。”可知，蜜蜂的舞蹈表明一个新地点的质量，跳得越快，新地点就越好。故选A。

3.推理判断题。根据第四段的段落结构One Chinese study found that bees can be trained to learn and remember a route to a food source. The researchers also found that bees can be taught to recognize hidden objects and use the concepts of “sameness” and “difference” to accomplish certain tasks. Ants take this one step further. Recent American research has shown that ants not only have the ability to learn, but also can teach their foraging skills to other younger ants.可知，Honeybees and ants are both capable of learning. 中国的一项研究发现，蜜蜂可以通过训练来学习和记住通往食物来源的路线。研究人员还发现，可以教会蜜蜂识别隐藏的物体，并使用“相同”和“不同”的概念来完成特定的任务。蚂蚁则更进一步。美国最近的一项研究表明，蚂蚁不仅有学习的能力，而且还能把它们的觅食技能传授给其他年轻的蚂蚁。由此可知，“蜜蜂和蚂蚁都有学习的能力。”为主题句，围绕这个主题，作者分别通过中国的和美国的研究论证该主题，故本段作者通过展示研究结果来陈述观点的。故选D。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段中Both coordinate(协调) complex actions and accomplish survival tasks by cooperating in groups consisting of many individuals. Unintelligent as they may be as individuals, as groups they often show amazing brilliance as they go about their everyday activities.“两者都协调复杂的行动，并通过许多个体组成的团队合作来完成生存任务。作为个人，作为群体，他们可能是不聪明的，但在日常活动中，他们经常表现出惊人的才华。”由此判断出，集体智慧的好处“它改善了蚁群内部的工作合作。”故选B。