Doyouknowwhatisscarierthanbees?Piratebees!Scientistshav...

问题详情：

Do you know what is scarier than bees? Pirate bees! Scientists have discovered a new species of bee that survives by capturing hives(蜂房) made by other species. The behavior is usually seen in cuckoos(杜鹃)，so the new species has been named the “cuckoo bee”.

Discovered by Dr. Jakub Straka of Charles University in Prague, and Dr. Michael S. Engel of the University of Kansas, the cuckoo bee was found during a journey to the Republic of Cape Verde is an island chain off the western coast of Africa. Cape Verde is an island that has not been visited before by scientists. Scientists believe the area may be home to a lot of undiscovered species.

According to Straka and Engel’s report, the cuckoo bee enters a hive secretly. While the host is out collecting pollen(花粉)，the female cuckoo bee enters the hive and lays her eggs on top of the host’s. The cuckoo bee eggs hatch more quickly than the other eggs. Then, when they come out of their eggs, the newborn cuckoo bees immediately kill all of the host’s eggs and young, and then eat all the stored food. Eventually, they gain control of the hive and live off its resources.

Physically, the cuckoo bees look like zebra, featuring mostly black-and-white patterns. Also, they are mostly quite large. But one species was only 5mm long, which is actually quite small for a bee. Engel and Straka believe the large size of most of the cuckoo bee species is the result of “island gigantism(岛屿巨型化)”, a phenomenon where a species can grow at an extreme rate when separated from the rest of its kind.

The researchers are now trying to explore the diversity(多样化) of the cuckoo bees’ hosts and also to understand their evolution across the islands.

32. Why is the bee called the “cuckoo bee”?

  A. It survives in a similar way to the cuckoo bird.

B. It looks like the cuckoo bird.

C. Its sound is similar to that of the cuckoo bird.

D. It is from the same island as the cuckoo bird.

33. What does the underlined word “capturing” in the first paragraph probably mean?

  A. Building.    B. Destroying.    C. Controlling.      D. Stealing.

34. The cuckoo bee ________.

A. has zebra-like patterns                           B. collects pollen before entering a hive  

C. kills the host bee after entering a hive       D. enters a hive in a group

35. What is the real reason for most cuckoo bees being larger?

A. They can get plenty of food from other bees’ hives.

B. Their habitat, Cape Verde, has not been polluted.

C. Their hosts are diverse.

D. They are separated from the rest of their kind.

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ACAD

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