Question

Bees add an estimated eighteen billion dollars a year to the value of American crops. They pollinate (授粉) flowers that become fruits, nuts and vegetables. But, in recent years, honeybee colonies in the United States and Europe have been shrinking. Scientists have proposed different theories to explain what is known as colony collapse disorder.

New research suggests that a commonly used group of insecticide(殺蟲劑)could cause bees to have a hard time finding their way back to their hive. The new re?search looks at the use of pesticides called neonicotin-oids. They were first used in the 1990s. They are now put on the seeds of many major crops around the world. 丁he seedlings absorb the chemicals as they grow. That means farmers do not need to spray a whole field. In?stead there is a little bit of insecticide inside each plant― including the pollen(花粉)and the nectar(花蜜)that the bees want. There is not enough pesticide to kill them. But the new research in the journal Science says it may harm them anyway.

Researchers stuck microchips to the backs of the bees. These chips recorded the bees' movements as they came and went from their hive. The scientists fed some bees sugar water with a low dose of a neonicotinoid. The study found that these bees were about twice as likely not to return as other bees.

Dave Goulson at the University of Stirling in Britain worked on another study published in Science. He says the pesticides could help explain why bumblebee popula?tions are also decreasing.

Bayer CropScience makes neonicotinoid pesticides. The company's spokesman Jack Boyne disputed the findings. He also notes that researchers are studying other factors that could affect the bees' population. These include parasites? diseases and stress caused by transporting beehives to farms. Some European countries have banned the pesti?cides. And there are growing calls to ban them in the Unit?ed States as well.

1.  The underlined word"shrinking"in Paragraph 1 most

probably means "  

A.  increasing       B. decreasing

C.  disappearing    D. continuing

2.    Why were microchips tied to the backs of the bees?

A.    To record how much honey the bees produce.

B.    To test how the bees react to the microchips.

C.    To find if the insecticide affects the bees' popula?tion.

D.    To keep track of the bees' movements.

3.    It can be inferred from the last paragraph that

A.    the pesticides have been forbidden to use in all European countries

B.    Bayer CropScience agrees that the pesticides af?fect the bees' population

C.    transporting beehives to farms can surely have an effect on bees

D.    the use of pesticides is likely to be banned in more countries

4.    What does the passage mainly talk about?

A.    The relationship between pesticides and bees.

B.    Honeybee colony collapse disorder.

C.    New findings about the reduction of bees.

D.    Pesticides that kill bees must be banned.

Answer 1

【文章大意】本文是一篇科普說明文。最新研究表明殺蟲劑的使用是導致蜜蜂數(shù)量減少的罪魁禍首。

B詞義猜測題。根據(jù)本句中轉(zhuǎn)折連詞"But…"和下文的col?ony collapse disorder可知，蜜蜂對美國的農(nóng)作物有重要作用， 但是最近幾年蜜蜂蜂群數(shù)量一直在下降，故選B項。

C 細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段中的"These chips recorded the bees' movements as they came and went from their hive."可推

知，這樣做的主要目的是記錄蜜蜂往返于蜂房的活動規(guī)律，從而進一步推斷殺蟲劑是否影響其活動規(guī)律，影響其數(shù)量。故

選C項。

D推理判斷題。根據(jù)最后一段的內(nèi)容可知，歐洲一些國家已經(jīng)禁止使用殺蟲劑，美國禁用殺蟲劑的呼聲也越來越高，因此可推知可能會有更多的國家禁用殺蟲劑。故選D項。

C主旨大意題。本文是一篇科普說明文，主要說的是最新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)蜜蜂蜂群近年數(shù)量下降，故選C項