The waggle dance of the honeybee has been frequently described and much studied, and it is one of the most complex systems in insect communication. In contrast, it has long been assumed that for bumblebees the search for food is essentially a solitary endeavor, that workers do not communicate with each other about good sources of forage, so that each individual has to learn for itself which flowers provide reward. Indeed, it has been known for many years that bumblebees (of a range of species)are unable to recruit nest mates to particular places. However, it has become apparent that bumblebee foragers (bees that look for food) do communicate indicating that they have found an available food source, but they do not indicate a specific location. In an elegantly simple experiment, Dornhaus and Chittka demonstrated that on their return to the nest successful foragers of B. terrestris (a species of bumblebee stimulate other workers to forage and communicate to them the scent of the food source that they have located. The returning forager runs around on the surface of the nest in an excited manner, frequently bumping into nest mates and buzzing her wings(very similar behavior occurs in some stingless bees). This stimulates workers to leave the nest and search for the source of the scent. This communication system is less complex than that of honeybees, for the new recruits do not appear to be given any positional information about the location of the food source. It would appear that there Is some sort of pheromone signal(a chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species)released by the returning forager, for activity in adjacent nests is stimulated unless air flow between the nests is prevented.
Why do bumblebees not communicate positional information? Domhaus and Chittka argue that conveying the location of food sources may be less important to bumblebees than to honeybees honeybees evolved in tropical ecosystems where they rely mainly on flowering trees, which grow close to one another and may be several kilometers from the nest and therefore difficult to locate In the temperate habitats in which bumblebees probably evolved, the plants on which they feed are generally more scattered. There is nothing to be gained in recruiting workers to a specific small patch that one bee can adequately exploit single-handedly. However, communication about the types of flowers that are providing rewards will allow the colony to rapidly encourage feeding on a rewarding plant species when it comes into flower, and so keep track of the changing seasonal availability of different species.
A second possibility is that bumblebees may forage over shorter distances than honeybees, perhaps as a result of their smaller colony size, thus rendering communication about the precise location of forage less important.
There is also a cost to conveying location. Honeybee recruits can take over an hour to decide where to forage when presented with just two returned foragers advertising different locations. They also take a long time to find the food source that is being advertised, for the locational information is not precise. Thus, in bumblebees it may be that the costs of conveying this information outweigh any gains.
Communication also occurs between bees while foraging. Both bumblebees and honeybees can distinguish between rewarding and nonrewarding flowers of the same species without sampling the reward available. When doing so, they are often observed to hover by and “inspect each flower, accepting some and rejecting others. In some circumstances the bees may be directly assessing the reward levels, or perhaps examining correlates of reward such as flower size and symmetry. However, there is now clear evidence that perhaps the most important cue used by bees to decide whether to probe or reject a flower is scent marks left by bees on previous visits. Such marks may increase foraging efficiency by reducing the time spent handling flowers that have recently been emptied by another bee. Bumblebees, honeybees, and carpenter bees leave short-lived repellent marks on flowers that they visit, and members of the same species use these to discriminate between visited and unvisited flowers.
题目：
1
The waggle dance of the honeybee has been frequently described and much studied, and it is one of the most complex systems in insect communication. In contrast, it has long been assumed that for bumblebees the search for food is essentially a solitary endeavor, that workers do not communicate with each other about good sources of forage, so that each individual has to learn for itself which flowers provide reward. Indeed, it has been known for many years that bumblebees (of a range of species)are unable to recruit nest mates to particular places. However, it has become apparent that bumblebee foragers (bees that look for food) do communicate indicating that they have found an available food source, but they do not indicate a specific location. In an elegantly simple experiment, Dornhaus and Chittka demonstrated that on their return to the nest successful foragers of B. terrestris (a species of bumblebee stimulate other workers to forage and communicate to them the scent of the food source that they have located. The returning forager runs around on the surface of the nest in an excited manner, frequently bumping into nest mates and buzzing her wings(very similar behavior occurs in some stingless bees). This stimulates workers to leave the nest and search for the source of the scent. This communication system is less complex than that of honeybees, for the new recruits do not appear to be given any positional information about the location of the food source. It would appear that there Is some sort of pheromone signal(a chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species)released by the returning forager, for activity in adjacent nests is stimulated unless air flow between the nests is prevented.
Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
AIt has long been assumed that bumblebees, in contrast to honeybees, do not communicate about food sources so that each individual can keep flowers for itself.
BIt has long been assumed that bumblebees, unlike honeybees, find food on their own, because they do not communicate with one another about food sources.
CThe assumption that individual bumblebees, unlike honeybees, no longer communicate with one another after they have learned which flowers are rewarding is probably correct.
DIt has long been assumed that bumblebees do not need to communicate with one another, because they are very good at finding rewarding food sources on their own.
2
The waggle dance of the honeybee has been frequently described and much studied, and it is one of the most complex systems in insect communication. In contrast, it has long been assumed that for bumblebees the search for food is essentially a solitary endeavor, that workers do not communicate with each other about good sources of forage, so that each individual has to learn for itself which flowers provide reward. Indeed, it has been known for many years that bumblebees (of a range of species)are unable to recruit nest mates to particular places. However, it has become apparent that bumblebee foragers (bees that look for food) do communicate indicating that they have found an available food source, but they do not indicate a specific location. In an elegantly simple experiment, Dornhaus and Chittka demonstrated that on their return to the nest successful foragers of B. terrestris (a species of bumblebee stimulate other workers to forage and communicate to them the scent of the food source that they have located. The returning forager runs around on the surface of the nest in an excited manner, frequently bumping into nest mates and buzzing her wings(very similar behavior occurs in some stingless bees). This stimulates workers to leave the nest and search for the source of the scent. This communication system is less complex than that of honeybees, for the new recruits do not appear to be given any positional information about the location of the food source. It would appear that there Is some sort of pheromone signal(a chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species)released by the returning forager, for activity in adjacent nests is stimulated unless air flow between the nests is prevented.
Why does a returning bumblebee forager run”around on the surface of the nest in an excited manner, frequently bumping into nest mates and buzzing her wings”?
ATo share the food it has brought with other bumblebees in the nest
BTo get other bumblebees in the nest to go out and search for the food source
CTo indicate to other workers the location of the food source it has found
DTo indicate how far away the food source is
3
The waggle dance of the honeybee has been frequently described and much studied, and it is one of the most complex systems in insect communication. In contrast, it has long been assumed that for bumblebees the search for food is essentially a solitary endeavor, that workers do not communicate with each other about good sources of forage, so that each individual has to learn for itself which flowers provide reward. Indeed, it has been known for many years that bumblebees (of a range of species)are unable to recruit nest mates to particular places. However, it has become apparent that bumblebee foragers (bees that look for food) do communicate indicating that they have found an available food source, but they do not indicate a specific location. In an elegantly simple experiment, Dornhaus and Chittka demonstrated that on their return to the nest successful foragers of B. terrestris (a species of bumblebee stimulate other workers to forage and communicate to them the scent of the food source that they have located. The returning forager runs around on the surface of the nest in an excited manner, frequently bumping into nest mates and buzzing her wings(very similar behavior occurs in some stingless bees). This stimulates workers to leave the nest and search for the source of the scent. This communication system is less complex than that of honeybees, for the new recruits do not appear to be given any positional information about the location of the food source. It would appear that there Is some sort of pheromone signal(a chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species)released by the returning forager, for activity in adjacent nests is stimulated unless air flow between the nests is prevented.
What can be inferred from paragraph 1 about the pheromone signal believed to be released by a successful forager on returning to its nest?
AIt carries as much information about the food source as the waggle dance of a honeybee does
BIt is visible to bumblebees in adjacent nests
CIt is capable of spreading some distance through the air
DIt stimulates more activity in adjacent nests than it does in the successful foragers nest
4
Why do bumblebees not communicate positional information? Domhaus and Chittka argue that conveying the location of food sources may be less important to bumblebees than to honeybees honeybees evolved in tropical ecosystems where they rely mainly on flowering trees, which grow close to one another and may be several kilometers from the nest and therefore difficult to locate In the temperate habitats in which bumblebees probably evolved, the plants on which they feed are generally more scattered. There is nothing to be gained in recruiting workers to a specific small patch that one bee can adequately exploit single-handedly. However, communication about the types of flowers that are providing rewards will allow the colony to rapidly encourage feeding on a rewarding plant species when it comes into flower, and so keep track of the changing seasonal availability of different species.
According to paragraph 2, bumblebees provide information about which of the following to other bumblebees in order to help them take advantage of food sources?
AWhen a plant species is beginning to flower
BWhen a group of flowering trees is located far from the nest
CWhen there are small patches of plants that are easy to exploit
DWhen there are different plant species flowering at the same time
5
A second possibility is that bumblebees may forage over shorter distances than honeybees, perhaps as a result of their smaller colony size, thus rendering communication about the precise location of forage less important.
What is the purpose of paragraph 3 in the passage?
ATo provide support for the explanation presented in paragraph 2 about why bumblebees do not communicate positional information
BTo cast doubt on the idea that bumblebees communicate any type of information about food sources to one another
CTo suggest that colony size is the key factor that accounts for the greater complexity in communication among honeybees than among bumblebees
DTo present an alternative explanation about why conveying the location of food sources is less important to bumblebees than to honeybees
6
There is also a cost to conveying location. Honeybee recruits can take over an hour to decide where to forage when presented with just two returned foragers advertising different locations. They also take a long time to find the food source that is being advertised, for the locational information is not precise. Thus, in bumblebees it may be that the costs of conveying this information outweigh any gains.
Paragraph 4 presents which of the following as support for a possible explanation of why bumblebees do not communicate positional information?
ABumblebees can probably find all the food they need nearby
BCommunication about positional information can be understood by other kinds of bees
CBumblebees are not able to communicate about food sources as precisely as honeybees are
DConveying information about location may take too much time to be worth the effort
7
Communication also occurs between bees while foraging. Both bumblebees and honeybees can distinguish between rewarding and nonrewarding flowers of the same species without sampling the reward available. When doing so, they are often observed to hover by and “inspect each flower, accepting some and rejecting others. In some circumstances the bees may be directly assessing the reward levels, or perhaps examining correlates of reward such as flower size and symmetry. However, there is now clear evidence that perhaps the most important cue used by bees to decide whether to probe or reject a flower is scent marks left by bees on previous visits. Such marks may increase foraging efficiency by reducing the time spent handling flowers that have recently been emptied by another bee. Bumblebees, honeybees, and carpenter bees leave short-lived repellent marks on flowers that they visit, and members of the same species use these to discriminate between visited and unvisited flowers.
The word “assessing” in the passage is closest in meaning to
Asampling
Bevaluating
Crecalling
Dadapting to
8
Communication also occurs between bees while foraging. Both bumblebees and honeybees can distinguish between rewarding and nonrewarding flowers of the same species without sampling the reward available. When doing so, they are often observed to hover by and “inspect each flower, accepting some and rejecting others. In some circumstances the bees may be directly assessing the reward levels, or perhaps examining correlates of reward such as flower size and symmetry. However, there is now clear evidence that perhaps the most important cue used by bees to decide whether to probe or reject a flower is scent marks left by bees on previous visits. Such marks may increase foraging efficiency by reducing the time spent handling flowers that have recently been emptied by another bee. Bumblebees, honeybees, and carpenter bees leave short-lived repellent marks on flowers that they visit, and members of the same species use these to discriminate between visited and unvisited flowers.
According to paragraph 5, which of the following factors is most likely to determine whether a hovering bee will accept or reject a flower?
AThe size of the flower
BThe extent to which the flower is symmetrical
CThe presence or absence of marks left by other bees
DThe number of other bees hovering around the flower
9
he waggle dance of the honeybee has been frequently described and much studied, and it is one of the most complex systems in insect communication. In contrast, it has long been assumed that for bumblebees the search for food is essentially a solitary endeavor, that workers do not communicate with each other about good sources of forage, so that each individual has to learn for itself which flowers provide reward. Indeed, it has been known for many years that bumblebees (of a range of species)are unable to recruit
