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  3. Honeybee populations declined by 13.6% over the winter, according to a survey of beekeepers across England. Losses were most sev

Honeybee populations declined by 13.6% over the winter, according to a survey of beekeepers across England. Losses were most sev

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问题     Honeybee populations declined by 13.6% over the winter, according to a survey of beekeepers across England. Losses were most severe in the north-east, where the survey recorded a loss rate of 17.1%.
    Experts worry that the declines will affect plant productivity. There are also concerns that the declines, along with drought conditions in some area, will mean less English honey this year.
Martin Smith, president of the British Beekeepers Association, which carried out the survey, said: "If this was measured against similar losses in livestock, it would be seen as disastrous and there would be great concern on the knock-on impact of food prices."
    Beekeepers are puzzled by the decline because the cold winter and early spring should have favoured bees. They stay "clustered" tightly in their hives when it is cold and dry, saving energy for spring foraging when the temperature rises about 12°C.
    However, there is good news that the rate of colony loss has slowed. Four years ago, one in three hives was wiped out.
    Beekeepers suspect that poor nutrition is a likely cause of weakness in adult bees that makes them succumb to diseases spread by a parasitic mite.
    "The varroa mite is the number one reason why people lose bees, so the government needs to increase research to cure diseases caused by varroa," said Smith. "But a colony that has a good source of pollen and nectar will go into winter more strongly and better able to fend off disease."
The association is calling on everyone who has a garden, small, to plant bee-friendly plants this summer. "It is really important that there are flowering nectar-rich plants around in August, September and October to provide the nutrition that’s needed so the bees can top up their stores of honey in the hive to see them through winter," said Smith.
    A campaign being launched next week to save all bees, spearheaded by Sam Roddick and Neal’ s Yard Remedies, pins the blame for the decline on pesticide. It will start a petition to hand to Downing Street in October to ban the use of a class of pesticides that has been implicated in bee deaths across the world.
    Roddick said, "These neonicotinoid pesticides penetrate the plant and indiscriminately attack the nervous system of insects that feed off them, disorientating bees, impairing their foraging ability and weakening their immune system, causing bee Aids. On current evidence, Italy, Germany and Slovenia have banned some varieties. In the UK, it’s up to the people to show the government that if there is any doubt that they are contributing to bee deaths, we need to ban them."
    A spokesman for the government’s National Bee Unit said: "The UK has a robust system for assessing risks from pesticides and all evidence shows neonicotinoids do not pose an unacceptable risk when products are used correctly, but we will not hesitate to act if presented with any new evidence."
What can we safely infer from the first paragraph?
选项 A、Many beekeepers don’t continue their work in winter.
B、Many honeybees fly to other countries in winter.
C、A number of honeybees die from the low temperature.
D、Cold weather may pose adverse effect on honeybees.
答案D
解析 推断题。文章第一段讲到Honeybee populations declined by 13．6％over thewinter，according to a survey of beekeepers across England．Losses were most severe inthe north-east，where the survey recorded a loss rate of 17．1％．(英国蜂农调查，蜜蜂数量在冬天下降了13．6％，而东北部的损失尤其严重，损失率达到17．1％。)，英国位于北半球，冬季非常寒冷，而在冬天，英国东北部比英国其他地区气温更低，文章讲到英国东北部损失率更高，由此可知，越寒冷，蜜蜂损失率越高，那么寒冷天气可能会对蜜蜂产生不良影响。因此，正确答案是D。
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