五、跨学科阅读理解。
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 usually don’t 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 could tell other bees how far away the food was and in what direction.
Scientists at RMIT University in Australia came up with a smart way to test whether bees understood the concept(概念) 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 about 40 tests, the bees learned to choose the cards with different numbers of shapes. Then came the interesting part. The scientists put 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 $\frac{1}{86,000}$ the size of human brains. 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 since birth. D. Dancing is a form of bees' communication.
(
A. To train the bees to choose the cards with more shapes.
B. To check if bees could tell sweetness from sourness.
C. To test if bees understood the meaning of numbers.
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. numbers B. skills C. ideas D. goals
(
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 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 usually don’t 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 could tell other bees how far away the food was and in what direction.
Scientists at RMIT University in Australia came up with a smart way to test whether bees understood the concept(概念) 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 about 40 tests, the bees learned to choose the cards with different numbers of shapes. Then came the interesting part. The scientists put 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 $\frac{1}{86,000}$ the size of human brains. 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
)1. 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 since birth. D. Dancing is a form of bees' communication.
(
D
)2. Why did the scientists use sugar water?A. To train the bees to choose the cards with more shapes.
B. To check if bees could tell sweetness from sourness.
C. To test if bees understood the meaning of numbers.
D. To encourage the bees to choose the cards with fewer shapes.
(
A
)3. 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
)4. The underlined word “tricks” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to “skills
”.A. numbers B. skills C. ideas D. goals
(
C
)5. 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：1. D 【点拨】根据“By dancing in some ways, bees could tell other bees how far away the food was 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。故选 D。
2. D 【点拨】根据“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,科学家们使用糖水是为了让蜜蜂选择带有更少形状的卡片。故选 D。
3. A 【点拨】根据“Even though they had never seen it, the trained bees chose the blank(空白的) card.”可知,测试结果是蜜蜂选择了空白卡片。故选 A。
4. B 【点拨】根据“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.”可知,tricks 指的是技巧。故选 B。
5. C 【点拨】通读全文可知,科学家们做测试后发现蜜蜂知道零的含义,因此选项 C“蜜蜂知道零的含义”最适合作为本文标题。故选 C。
2. D 【点拨】根据“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,科学家们使用糖水是为了让蜜蜂选择带有更少形状的卡片。故选 D。
3. A 【点拨】根据“Even though they had never seen it, the trained bees chose the blank(空白的) card.”可知,测试结果是蜜蜂选择了空白卡片。故选 A。
4. B 【点拨】根据“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.”可知,tricks 指的是技巧。故选 B。
5. C 【点拨】通读全文可知,科学家们做测试后发现蜜蜂知道零的含义,因此选项 C“蜜蜂知道零的含义”最适合作为本文标题。故选 C。
解析：
【分析】本题为跨学科英语阅读理解题，共5道小题，涵盖细节理解、词义猜测、主旨大意三类题型。解题思路：1. 通读全文，把握核心内容（澳大利亚科学家发现蜜蜂能理解零的概念及相关实验）；2. 针对每道小题，先定位原文对应段落的关键信息；3. 细节理解题直接匹配原文与选项；4. 词义猜测题结合上下文语境推断词义；5. 主旨大意题归纳全文核心话题，排除偏离主题的选项。
【解析】1. 题1：定位第一段最后一句“By dancing in some ways, bees could tell other bees how far away the food was and in what direction.”，可知跳舞是蜜蜂交流的形式。A项原文未提及蜜蜂比猴子聪明；B项原文仅说明蜜蜂能数到4，并非大多数动物；C项人类约4岁才理解零，并非天生，故排除A、B、C，选D。
2. 题2：定位第二段“First, they had to train the bees by giving them sugar water to make them choose the cards with fewer shapes on them.”，可知用糖水是为了训练蜜蜂选形状更少的卡片，故选D。
3. 题3：定位第三段“Even though they had never seen it, the trained bees chose the blank(空白的) card.”，这是实验的有趣结果，故选A。
4. 题4：最后一段“teach computers and robots some new tricks”，结合前文“学习蜜蜂大脑工作原理”，可知tricks意为“技巧”，对应B项，故选B。
5. 题5：全文围绕“蜜蜂能理解零的概念”展开，A、B、D均偏离核心，故选C。
【答案】1.D 2.D 3.A 4.B 5.C
【知识点】英语阅读理解、细节理解、主旨大意
【点评】本题为跨学科英语阅读题，结合生物领域的蜜蜂认知研究，考查学生的信息定位、语境推断及主旨归纳能力，需学生仔细梳理原文逻辑，准确匹配选项与原文信息，整体难度适中。
【难度系数】0.6
【解析】1. 题1：定位第一段最后一句“By dancing in some ways, bees could tell other bees how far away the food was and in what direction.”，可知跳舞是蜜蜂交流的形式。A项原文未提及蜜蜂比猴子聪明；B项原文仅说明蜜蜂能数到4，并非大多数动物；C项人类约4岁才理解零，并非天生，故排除A、B、C，选D。
2. 题2：定位第二段“First, they had to train the bees by giving them sugar water to make them choose the cards with fewer shapes on them.”，可知用糖水是为了训练蜜蜂选形状更少的卡片，故选D。
3. 题3：定位第三段“Even though they had never seen it, the trained bees chose the blank(空白的) card.”，这是实验的有趣结果，故选A。
4. 题4：最后一段“teach computers and robots some new tricks”，结合前文“学习蜜蜂大脑工作原理”，可知tricks意为“技巧”，对应B项，故选B。
5. 题5：全文围绕“蜜蜂能理解零的概念”展开，A、B、D均偏离核心，故选C。
【答案】1.D 2.D 3.A 4.B 5.C
【知识点】英语阅读理解、细节理解、主旨大意
【点评】本题为跨学科英语阅读题，结合生物领域的蜜蜂认知研究，考查学生的信息定位、语境推断及主旨归纳能力，需学生仔细梳理原文逻辑，准确匹配选项与原文信息，整体难度适中。
【难度系数】0.6