Scientists in Australia have found that bees seem to understand the idea of zero. This is surprising since bees have very small brains. Studies have shown that only humans and a few animals, such as monkeys and some birds, understand zero. And humans don't usually understand it until they're around four years old. But bees are smarter than they look. Scientists already knew that bees could count up to four. They also knew that bees could "talk to" each other. By dancing in some ways, bees can tell other bees how far away food is and in what direction.
Scientists at RMIT University in Australia came up with a smart way to test whether bees understood the concept of "zero". They prepared some cards with different numbers of shapes on them. First they had to train the bees by giving them sugar water to make them choose the cards with fewer shapes on them. They put something sour(酸的) under the cards with more shapes on them. Soon the bees knew there was sugar water under the cards with fewer shapes.
After many tests, the bees learned to choose the cards with different numbers of shapes. Then came the interesting part. The scientists took out a card with nothing on it. Even though they had never seen it, the trained bees chose the blank(空白的) card. This showed that they knew that zero, or "none", meant less than "some".
Bees' brains are about 86,000 times smaller than the brains of humans. How are they able to do so much with such a small brain? Scientists want to study more bees to find out more. Many are now trying to create machines that can "think" like bees. By learning how the bees' brains work, they may be able to use some of those ideas to teach computers and robots some new tricks.
(
A. Bees are smarter than monkeys.
B. Most animals can count up to four.
C. Humans can understand zero from birth.
D. Dancing is a form of bees' communication.
(
A. To train the bees to choose the cards with more shapes.
B. To test if bees understand the meaning of numbers.
C. To check if bees can tell sweetness from sourness.
D. To encourage the bees to choose the cards with fewer shapes.
(
A. the bees chose the blank card
B. the bees landed on the sugar water
C. the bees flew towards the sour water
D. the bees chose the cards with some shapes
(
A. number
B. idea
C. skill
D. goal
(
A. Bees Are in Need of Protection
B. Bees Are Important to Humans
C. Bees Know the Meaning of Zero
D. Bees Have Funny Social Activities
Scientists at RMIT University in Australia came up with a smart way to test whether bees understood the concept of "zero". They prepared some cards with different numbers of shapes on them. First they had to train the bees by giving them sugar water to make them choose the cards with fewer shapes on them. They put something sour(酸的) under the cards with more shapes on them. Soon the bees knew there was sugar water under the cards with fewer shapes.
After many tests, the bees learned to choose the cards with different numbers of shapes. Then came the interesting part. The scientists took out a card with nothing on it. Even though they had never seen it, the trained bees chose the blank(空白的) card. This showed that they knew that zero, or "none", meant less than "some".
Bees' brains are about 86,000 times smaller than the brains of humans. How are they able to do so much with such a small brain? Scientists want to study more bees to find out more. Many are now trying to create machines that can "think" like bees. By learning how the bees' brains work, they may be able to use some of those ideas to teach computers and robots some new tricks.
(
D
)6. What can we learn from Paragraph 1?A. Bees are smarter than monkeys.
B. Most animals can count up to four.
C. Humans can understand zero from birth.
D. Dancing is a form of bees' communication.
(
D
)7. What did the scientists use sugar water for?A. To train the bees to choose the cards with more shapes.
B. To test if bees understand the meaning of numbers.
C. To check if bees can tell sweetness from sourness.
D. To encourage the bees to choose the cards with fewer shapes.
(
A
)8. The interesting result of the test was that the bees chose the blank card
.A. the bees chose the blank card
B. the bees landed on the sugar water
C. the bees flew towards the sour water
D. the bees chose the cards with some shapes
(
B
)9. The underlined word "concept" in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to "idea
".A. number
B. idea
C. skill
D. goal
(
C
)10. Which is the best title for the passage?A. Bees Are in Need of Protection
B. Bees Are Important to Humans
C. Bees Know the Meaning of Zero
D. Bees Have Funny Social Activities
答案：6. D 推理判断题。根据"By dancing in some ways, bees can tell other bees how far away food is and in what direction."可知,蜜蜂能通过跳舞传递信息,因此可推知跳舞是蜜蜂交流的一种形式。
7. D
8. A
9. B 词义猜测题。根据"Scientists in Australia have found that bees seem to understand the idea of zero."可知,此处concept 与 idea 意思最为接近。
10. C 标题归纳题。通读全文且根据第一段中"Scientists in Australia have found that bees seem to understand the idea of zero."可知,科学家们做的测试就是为了知道蜜蜂是否理解零的含义,并且最终发现蜜蜂知道零的含义。
7. D
8. A
9. B 词义猜测题。根据"Scientists in Australia have found that bees seem to understand the idea of zero."可知,此处concept 与 idea 意思最为接近。
10. C 标题归纳题。通读全文且根据第一段中"Scientists in Australia have found that bees seem to understand the idea of zero."可知,科学家们做的测试就是为了知道蜜蜂是否理解零的含义,并且最终发现蜜蜂知道零的含义。
解析：
【分析】
这是一篇科普类说明文阅读，解题时我们可以按照题干定位法逐一对应原文内容推导答案：第6题直接定位到第一段，将四个选项和第一段给出的信息逐一比对，排除不符合原文描述的错误选项；第7题定位到第二段实验训练蜜蜂的相关内容，找到糖水的作用直接匹配选项；第8题定位到第三段实验的核心结果部分，直接提取对应的现象即可；第9题做词义猜测时，可借助文章开篇出现的原词复现线索快速推导含义；第10题选标题需要抓住全文开篇的核心主题句，匹配最贴合全文核心内容的选项，排除偏离主题的干扰项。
【解析】
6. 选项A：原文仅提到少数动物比如猴子可以理解0，没有对比蜜蜂和猴子的智商高低，表述错误；选项B：原文仅说明蜜蜂可以数到4，没有提及大多数动物都具备这个能力，表述错误；选项C：第一段明确提到人类通常到4岁左右才能理解0，并非天生就懂，表述错误；选项D：根据第一段末尾“By dancing in some ways, bees can tell other bees how far away food is and in what direction”，可推知跳舞是蜜蜂传递信息的交流形式，表述正确。
7. 根据第二段原文“First they had to train the bees by giving them sugar water to make them choose the cards with fewer shapes on them”，可知科学家放置糖水的目的是鼓励蜜蜂主动选择形状数量更少的卡片，其余选项均不符合实验设计的目的。
8. 根据第三段内容“Then came the interesting part. The scientists took out a card with nothing on it. Even though they had never seen it, the trained bees chose the blank card”，可知本次测试最有价值的有趣结果就是经过训练的蜜蜂主动选择了空白卡片。
9. 文章开篇第一句就出现了原句“bees seem to understand the idea of zero”，全文研究的核心就是蜜蜂是否理解0的概念，因此划线词concept和idea的含义最为接近。
10. 全文开篇就点明核心研究结论：澳大利亚科学家发现蜜蜂似乎理解0的含义，后续内容全部围绕验证该结论的实验过程、相关研究意义展开，因此最贴合全文的标题是“蜜蜂知道0的含义”。
【答案】
6.D 7.D 8.A 9.B 10.C
【知识点】
细节理解题，词义猜测题，主旨大意题
【点评】
本题属于中等难度的科普类阅读，题型覆盖了初中英语阅读最常见的四类考点，解题的核心技巧是精准根据题干关键词回原文定位，将选项和原文内容逐一比对，不要加入自己的主观臆断，抓住开篇主题句就能快速排除主旨类题目的干扰项。
【难度系数】
0.7
这是一篇科普类说明文阅读，解题时我们可以按照题干定位法逐一对应原文内容推导答案：第6题直接定位到第一段，将四个选项和第一段给出的信息逐一比对，排除不符合原文描述的错误选项；第7题定位到第二段实验训练蜜蜂的相关内容，找到糖水的作用直接匹配选项；第8题定位到第三段实验的核心结果部分，直接提取对应的现象即可；第9题做词义猜测时，可借助文章开篇出现的原词复现线索快速推导含义；第10题选标题需要抓住全文开篇的核心主题句，匹配最贴合全文核心内容的选项，排除偏离主题的干扰项。
【解析】
6. 选项A：原文仅提到少数动物比如猴子可以理解0，没有对比蜜蜂和猴子的智商高低，表述错误；选项B：原文仅说明蜜蜂可以数到4，没有提及大多数动物都具备这个能力，表述错误；选项C：第一段明确提到人类通常到4岁左右才能理解0，并非天生就懂，表述错误；选项D：根据第一段末尾“By dancing in some ways, bees can tell other bees how far away food is and in what direction”，可推知跳舞是蜜蜂传递信息的交流形式，表述正确。
7. 根据第二段原文“First they had to train the bees by giving them sugar water to make them choose the cards with fewer shapes on them”，可知科学家放置糖水的目的是鼓励蜜蜂主动选择形状数量更少的卡片，其余选项均不符合实验设计的目的。
8. 根据第三段内容“Then came the interesting part. The scientists took out a card with nothing on it. Even though they had never seen it, the trained bees chose the blank card”，可知本次测试最有价值的有趣结果就是经过训练的蜜蜂主动选择了空白卡片。
9. 文章开篇第一句就出现了原句“bees seem to understand the idea of zero”，全文研究的核心就是蜜蜂是否理解0的概念，因此划线词concept和idea的含义最为接近。
10. 全文开篇就点明核心研究结论：澳大利亚科学家发现蜜蜂似乎理解0的含义，后续内容全部围绕验证该结论的实验过程、相关研究意义展开，因此最贴合全文的标题是“蜜蜂知道0的含义”。
【答案】
6.D 7.D 8.A 9.B 10.C
【知识点】
细节理解题，词义猜测题，主旨大意题
【点评】
本题属于中等难度的科普类阅读，题型覆盖了初中英语阅读最常见的四类考点，解题的核心技巧是精准根据题干关键词回原文定位，将选项和原文内容逐一比对，不要加入自己的主观臆断，抓住开篇主题句就能快速排除主旨类题目的干扰项。
【难度系数】
0.7