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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

admin2014-12-26  32
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 leads to bee Aids according to Roddick?
选项 A、The parasitic mites.
B、A lack of nutrition.
C、The neonicotinoid pesticides.
D、The cold weather.
答案D
解析 细节题。根据题目中的bee Aids可定位至文章第十段，根据Thesesystem of insects that feed off them，disorientating bees，impairing their foraging abilityand weakening their immune system．causing bee Aids．(这些新烟碱类的农药会渗透到农药中，任意侵蚀以这些植物为食的昆虫的神经系统，迷惑蜜蜂，损害它们的觅食能力，从而降低它们的免疫能力，最终导致蜜蜂患上艾滋病。)可知，neonicotinoidpesticides“新烟碱类的农药”是导致蜜蜂患艾滋病的原因，因此选择D。
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