Bees seem to fly aimlessly as they search for...

Bees seem to fly aimlessly as they search for the sugary liquid called nectar (花蜜). But their flight plans actually do have a pattern. Flowers act as the insects’ air-traffic controllers. And new research shows bees prefer flowers that aren’t too flashy.

Flowers give bees clues about how much a plant can offer. Those clues can be in the color of petals, in the type, in the smell or even in the electrical charge. All of these characteristics send signals to the bees, telling them whether to land or not, among which the colors play the most significant role. The insects keep track of the color of the flowers that are especially rich in nectar. They then visit more flowers of that color.

However, color can’t guarantee bees a good meal. It may change depending on the angle at which sunlight hits its petals. A yellow follower, for example, may look somewhat blue from one angle and red from another. Beverley Glover studies plants at the University of Cambridge in England. Glover and her colleagues showed that even when the color of petals looks similar, bees behave differently in searching for nectar. They started to guess that the strength of petals’ indescence (色彩斑斓) might be related to how bees find the petals.

Glover and her colleagues tested their hypothesis in the lab. In their experiment, they found that bees felt confused sometimes when the petals were very iridescent and that bees had no problem finding the flowers with more nectar when the petals were not very iridescent. The team shared its new findings in the March 21 Current Biology.

“At first glance, it’s very surprising because animals can usually detect a more vivid signal more easily,” says Klaus Lunau, a biologist in Germany, who was not involved in the study.

1.What can we know about the flight of bees?

A. They usually fly in a regular pattern.

B. They fly under the direction of flowers.

C. They usually fly without any purpose.

D. They fly to some very flashy flowers.

2.What is the most important clue for bees to search for nectar?

A. The petals’ type.　　 B. The followers’ smell.

C. The followers’ electrical charge.　　 D. The petals’ color.

3.What does the underlined word “hypothesis” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A. Discussion.　　 B. Method.

C. Assumption.　　 D. Invention

4.What is the new finding of the team?

A. Petals that are not very flashy are better for bees to make adjustments.

B. Petals of different color usually give different signals.

C. Petals that are vivid are detected by bees more easily.

D. Petals of different types make bees confused to find the right flower.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Bees and butterflies are active during the daytime. They get a lot of attention for their roles as pollinators(传粉者).But moths(蛾)aren't given the prominence they deserve.

Actually, moths are seen much less often, because they're active at night. Moth bodies often seem furry. Pollen—a yellow powder in the center of most flowers, from one flower sticks to their bodies and falls off when they move to other flowers. Scientists studied insects around nine ponds on farmlands in the United Kingdom. They visited these ponds once a month from March to October.

They studied three groups of insects: moths, bees that normally work together, like honey bees, and flying insects which work alone, such as butterflies. At the ponds, the scientists caught these flying insects and died to collect pollen from their bodies. In all, the scientists checked 838 moths, 632 other insects which work alone, and 1,548 honey bees.

By studying the pollen they collected, the scientists were able to see which plants the insects had visited. The moths had pollen from 47 different kinds of plants, including seven plants that bees don't normally visit. The honey bees had pollen from 46 different kinds of plants. The other insects that work alone had visited 45 different kinds of plants. Richard Walton, who led the study, says that bees usually choose the plants with the most nectar(花蜜)and most pollen. However, moths pollinate many different plants, filling in the gaps left by the daytime pollinators.

Not only do moths pollinate plants, they also provide important food for birds and bats.

But, like many other insects, moth numbers have dropped greatly in the last 50 years, mainly because of pesticides and the loss of natural lands. Just like bees and butterflies, moths are worth protecting. "Moths are by no means less important," says Dr. Walton.

1.What does the underlined word probably mean in paragraphl?

A.Praise. B.Chances.

C.Concerns. D.Future.

2.What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A.Moths and other insects' living habits.

B.Research on insects' spreading pollen.

C.Classification of insects by scientists.

D.The ways in which moths carry pollen.

3.Compared with bees, which best describes moths?

A.They are less choosy. B.They eat less in the daytime.

C.They are more diverse. D.They carry more pollen.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A.Moths Pollinate Plants Strangely

B.Moths Are More Vital Than We Think

C.Moths Help Bees to Pollinate Plants

D.Moths Visit Some Flowers Bees Skip

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

It seems as if they are going to ____ us a lot of money for the party hall．

A．cost         B．ask            C．demand    D．charge

高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

A recent experiment proves that bees can save time and energy when they fly around to different flowers.

Dr Nigel Raine, from the Royal Holloway University of London, has always been interested in finding out why animal behave like they do. He is also interested in bees. It was not a surprise when he and some other scientists from Queen Mary University of London discovered that bees can quickly solve a problem that takes computers many days.

Flowers make pollen (花粉), and when bees visit them, they carry the pollen to other flowers. The plants need the pollen to make seeds that will grow. Dr Raine notes that we get a lot of our food from plants, so it is important to know how the bees move around and take the pollen between flowers. The scientists wanted to examine the journey that the bees take and how they save energy when they do this. They completed the experiment on the roof of Queen Mary University, using artificial flowers and a large amount of nectar, a sweet liquid produced by flowers. They taught one bee to visit all the flowers in one place at the same time. When the bee got to know the location of the flowers well, they saw how it flew around and returned home with the nectar. After this, they changed the locations of the flowers. The scientists thought the bee would follow the route it knew already. This would mean that it followed a longer route than it needed to, and so it would use more energy. They watched the bee carefully as it travelled between the flowers in their new location, and they made notes. But in the experiment, the bee changed its route and flew a shorter distance.

The problem that the bee solved is similar to a maths puzzle called the ‘travelling salesman problem’. A salesman who goes to different places to sell things wants to travel the shortest distance. But he has to calculate the length of many possible routes to know which one is the shortest. A computer can calculate this but the experiment shows bees can do the same calculation quickly with a tiny brain. Scientists are very interested in how they do this. It would help us to understand how pollen is moved around. In addition, if they find this out, it could help us to improve communication networks. This might help humans to reduce traffic jams when there is an accident, for example.

1.The underlined word “nectar” in the third paragraph means_________.

A. powder B. honey

C. vitamin D. water

2.The researcher’s experiment found _________.

A. bees could manage to avoid accidents

B. bees showed signs of being very intelligent

C. bees could take the same route they knew before

D. bees were faster at calculating distance than computers

3.According to the last paragraph, the next step of the study is to discover how _______.

A. pollen is moved around

B. traffic jams can be reduced

C. bees can calculate so quickly

D. communication networks are improved

4.Where does this passage probably come from?

A. A novel. B. A website.

C. A science magazine. D. An advertisement.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

As they migrate（迁移) , butterflies and moths choose the winds they want to fly with, and they change their body positions if they start floating in the wrong direction. This new finding suggests that insects may employ some of the same methods that birds use for traveling long distances. Scientists have long thought that insects were simply at the mercy of the wind.

Fascinating as their skills of flight are, migrating behavior has been difficult to study in insects because many long distant trips happen thousands of feet above ground. Only recently have scientists developed technologies that can detect such little creatures at such great heights.

To their surprise, though, the insects weren't passive travelers on the winds. In autumn, for example, most light winds blew from the east, but the insects somehow sought out ones that carried them south and they positioned themselves to navigate directly to their wintering homes.

Even in the spring, when most winds flowed northward, the insects didn't always go with the flow. If breezes weren't blowing in the exact direction they wanted to go, the insects changed their body positions to compensate. Many migrating birds do the same thing.

The study also found, butterflies and moths actively flew within the air streams that pushed them along. By adding flight speeds to wind speeds, the scientists calculated that butterflies and moths can travel as fast as 100 kilometers an hour. The findings may have real-world applications. With climate warming, migrating insects are growing in number. Knowing how and when these pests move could help when farmers decide when to spray their crops.

1. What's the main idea of the text?

A. Windsurfing insects have real direction.

B. Wind helps insects greatly in migrating.

C. Insects migrate with the seasons.

D. Scientists have trouble in observing insects.

2.Scientists originally thought that _____.

A. insects were just blown about by the wind

B. insects chose the winds they wanted to ride

C. insects always waited for their favourable winds

D. insects positioned themselves in the winds

3. It is not easy to study the migrating behavior of the insects because ______.

A. the little creatures can fly very fast

B. their flight is long and high above ground

C. the wind's direction is hard to foresee

D. they have no regular migrating courses

4. We can learn from the text that _____.

A. insects never position themselves when flying low

B. insects travel more easily in autumn

C. insects fly in the way birds do

D. insects rest a lot when the wind pushes them along

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

They were walking around the town _______ a place for the party.

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

______ about “the God Particle” that Jude decided to search for as much information as possible about it.

A. Such curious he    was   B. So curious he was

C. So curious was he       D. Such curious was he

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

---You look tired after _____ search for the missing boy．

---Yes, I prefer to head for _____ bed as soon as possible．

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Searching for airfares often seems like a game that passengers are bound to lose.

Prices change from day to day, even minute to minute. Looking through multiple websites for the best deal can be a big challenge. Even when you do book, there’s no guarantee that you are going to get the best price.

“You just don’t know when to pull the trigger. It’s not like buying anything else I can think of,” said George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com.

Harriet Levy paid $179 for a recent round-trip flight on American Airlines between New York and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sitting just one row behind her, Shirley Harrison paid $215. A few rows back, Ellis and Dianne Traub paid $317 each. There were at least 12 fares on the flight, ranging from $169 to $360.

There’s no reason for it, Harrison said.

Fares can vary significantly in just a few hours. One Delta flight from New York to Los Angeles jumped from $755 to $1,143 from a Friday to Saturday in late April, then fell to $718 on Sunday.

The flight was one of a dozen the Associated Press (美国联合通讯社)followed over three months for a vacation between July 16 and 22. The number one finding: avoid booking tickets on weekends. It’s the most expensive time to buy.

There’s no way to guarantee the best fare. But before booking, travelers should pay attention to this additional advice:

● Book on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. That’s when airlines most often offer sales.

● Buy in advance, but not too early. The best time is four to six weeks before traveling. In general, prices for any given flight are highest eight to ten weeks and two to three weeks in advance.

● Make use of social media. Airlines are giving more benefits like exclusive (独家) sales to travelers who interact (互动) with them on Twitter and Facebook. Those specials are often gone within hours.

● The so-called discount airlines – JetBlue, Air-Tran, Southwest and Frontier – adjust their fares less frequently than other airlines, so you can feel more confident that the price will stay the same. But their prices aren’t always the lowest. Researching multiple airlines’ fares is the only way to get a good deal.

1. What can we infer from the first sentence of the text?

A. Passengers are unable to search for airfares.

B. Airlines often play games with passengers.

C. Airfares are set in different situations.

D. It’s difficult for passengers to get the best price.

2.The underlined phrase “pull the trigger” in Paragraph 3 probably means _______.

A. start searching                                  B. get the highest price

C. make a purchase                                        D. get on board the plane

3.By using a lot of figures, the author intends to _______.

A. show there is standard price for every single airline

B. discover the rules behind airfares

C. guarantee passengers a low price

D. prove airfares can vary widely

4.Passengers are advised to book flights _______.

A. in the middle of the week

B. on special websites

C. several months before traveling

D. with airlines which are famous for offering discount prices

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Searching for airfares (飞机票价) often seems like a game that passengers are bound to lose.

Prices change from day to day, even minute to minute. Looking through multiple websites for the best deal can be a big challenge. Even when you do book, there’s no guarantee that you are going to get the best price.

“You just don’t know when to pull the trigger. It’s not like buying anything else I can think of,” said George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com.

Harriet Levy paid $179 for a recent round-trip flight on American Airlines between New York and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sitting just one row behind her, Shirley Harrison paid $215. A few rows back, Ellis and Dianne Traub paid $317 each. There were at least 12 fares on the flight, ranging from $169 to $360.

There’s no reason for it, Harrison said.

Fares can fluctuate significantly in just a few hours. One Delta flight from New York to Los Angeles jumped from $755 to $1,143 from a Friday to Saturday in late April, then fell to $718 on Sunday.

The flight was one of a dozen the Associated Press followed over three months for a vacation between July 16 and 22. The number one finding: avoid booking tickets on weekends. It’s the most expensive time to buy.

There’s no way to guarantee the best fare. But before booking, travelers should pay attention to this additional advice:

? Book on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. That’s when airlines most often offer sales.

? Buy in advance, but not too early. The best time is four to six weeks before traveling. In general, prices for any given flight are highest eight to 10 weeks and two to three weeks in advance.

? Make use of social media. Airlines are giving more benefits like exclusive (独家) sales to travelers who interact (互动) with them on Twitter and Facebook. Those specials are often gone within hours.

? The so-called discount (折扣) airlines – JetBlue, Air-Tran, Southwest and Frontier – adjust their fares less frequently than other airlines, so you can feel more confident that the price will stay the same. But their prices aren’t always the lowest. Researching multiple airlines’ fares is the only way to get a good deal.

1.What can we infer from the first sentence of the text?

2.The underlined phrase “pull the trigger” in Paragraph 3 probably means _______.

3.By using a lot of figures, the author intends to _______.

4.Passengers are advised to book flights _______.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析