题型:阅读理解 题类:模拟题 难易度:普通
广东省广州市2019届3月普通高中毕业班英语综合测试(一)
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 complex actions and accomplish crucial 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.
Field Trip Day
On Friday, May 16, our class will take a field trip to North Park Zoo. The zoo has lions, elephants, and other interesting animals. Many of the animals we have been studying will be there for us to closely examine.
Our class will be divided into six teams. Each team will have five students and one leader. The leaders are listed in the table.
Team 1 | Miss Banker |
Team 2 | Mrs. Lopez |
Team 3 | Mr. Harper |
Team 4 | Miss Abel |
Team 5 | Mr. Soto |
Team 6 | Mrs. Thomas |
What You Need to Know
The cost is $1.00 for students to enter the zoo. We will leave the school at 9:00 a.m. and return at 2:30 p.m.
On the morning of the trip, the students will be divided into teams. One student from each team will receive a camera. The cameraman will take pictures of the team, the animals, and other fun sights at the zoo.
All members should wear blue shirts. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes because we will be walking all day. Please bring a bag lunch and a drink. We will have a picnic at the park inside the zoo. Bring a healthy snack, such as a piece of fruit and a drink, for later in the day.
When we are at the zoo, always remain with your team. Do not leave the team without asking permission from the team leader.
Feeding the Animals
The ONLY animals that students are allowed to feed are those in the children's Zoo. Special food can be bought at the zoo for 25 cents and given to these animals. Do not feed your lunch to them. It is not food for the animals.
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