Honeybees in trouble
Cannative pollinators fill the gap?
A
Recently,ominous headlines have described a mysterious ailment, colony collapsedisorder(CCD), that is wiping out the honeybees that pollinate many crops.Without honeybees, the story goes, fields will be sterile, economies willcollapse, and food will be scarce.
B
But whatfew accounts acknowledge is that what’s at risk is not itself a natural stateof affairs. For one thing, in the United States, where CCD was first reportedand has had its greatest impacts, honeybees are not a native species. Pollinationin modem agriculture isn’t alchemy, it’s industry. The total number of hivesinvolved in the U.S. pollination industry has been somewhere between 2.5million and 3 million in recent years. Meanwhile, American farmers began usinglarge quantities of organophosphate insecticides, planted large-scale cropmonocultures, and adopted “clean farming” practices that scrubbed nativevegetation from field margins and roadsides. These practices killed many nativebees outright—they’re as vulnerable to insecticides as any agriculturalpest—and made the agricultural landscape inhospitable to those that remained.Concern about these practices and their effects on pollinators isn’t new—in her1962 ecological alarm cry Silent Spring, Rachel Carson warned of a ‘FruitlessFall’ that could result from the disappearance of insect pollinators.
C
If that‘Fruitless Fall, has not—yet—occurred, it may be largely thanks to thehoneybee, which farmers turned to as the ability of wild pollinators to servicecrops declined. The honeybee has been semi-domesticated since the time of theancient Egyptians, but it wasn’t just familiarity that determined this choice:the bees’ biology is in many ways suited to the kind of agricultural systemthat was emerging. For example, honeybee hives can be closed up and moved outof the way when pesticides are applied to a field. The bees are generalistpollinators, so they can be used to pollinate many different crops. Andalthough they are not the most efficient pollinator of every crop, honeybeeshave strength in numbers, with 20,000 to 100,000 bees living in a single hive.“Without a doubt, if there was one bee you wanted for agriculture, it would bethe honeybee, “says Jim Cane, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Thehoneybee, in other words, has become a crucial cog in the modem system ofindustrial agriculture. That system delivers more food, and more kinds of it,to more places, more cheaply than ever before. But that system is alsovulnerable, because making a farm field into the photosynthetic equivalent of afactory floor, and pollination into a series of continent-long assembly lines,also leaches out some of the resilience characteristic of natural ecosystems.
D
BrenoFreitas, an agronomist, pointed out that in nature such a high degree ofspecialization usually is a very dangerous game: it works well while all therest is in equilibrium, but runs quickly to extinction at the least disbalance.In effect, by developing an agricultural system that is heavily reliant on asingle pollinator species, we humans have become riskily overspecialized. Andwhen the human-honeybee relationship is disrupted, as it has been by colonycollapse disorder, the vulnerability of that agricultural system begins tobecome clear.
E
In fact,a few wild bees are already being successfully managed for crop pollination.“The problem is trying to provide native bees in adequate numbers on a reliablebasis in a fairly short number of years in order to service the crop,” Jim Canesays. “You’re talking millions of flowers per acre in atwo-to three-week time frame, or less, for a lot of crops.” On the other hand,native bees can be much more efficient pollinators of certain crops thanhoneybees, so you don’t need as many to do the job. For example, about 750 blueorchard bees (Osmia lignaria) can pollinate a hectare of apples or almonds, atask that would require roughly 50,000 to 150,000 honeybees. There are beetinkerers engaged in similar work in many comers of the world. In Brazil, BrenoFreitas has found that Centris tarsata, the native pollinator of wild cashew,can survive in commercial cashew orchards if growers provide a source of floraloils, such as by interplanting their cashew trees with Caribbean cherry.
F
Incertain places, native bees may already be doing more than they’re gettingcredit for. Ecologist Rachael Winfree recently led a team that looked atpollination of four summer crops (tomato, watermelon, peppers, and muskmelon)at 29 farms in the region of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Winfiree’s teamidentified 54 species of wild bees that visited these crops, and found thatwild bees were the most important pollinators in the system: even thoughmanaged honeybees were present on many of the farms, wild bees were responsiblefor 62 percent of flower visits in the study. In another study focusingspecifically on watermelon, Winfree and her colleagues calculated that nativebees alone could provide sufficient pollination at 90 percent of the 23 farmsstudied. By contrast, honeybees alone could provide sufficient pollination atonly 78 percent of farms.
G
“The region I work in is not typical of theway most food is produced,” Winfree admits. In the Delaware Valley, most farmsand farm fields are relatively small, each fanner typically grows a variety ofcrops, and farms are interspersed with suburbs and other types of land usewhich means there are opportunities for homeowners to get involved in beeconservation, too. The landscape is a bee-friendly patchwork that provides a varietyof nesting habitat and floral resources distributed among different kinds ofcrops, weedy field margins, fallow fields, suburban neighborhoods, and seminatural habitat like old woodlots, all at a relatively small scale. In otherwords, ’’pollinator-friendly” farming practices would not only aid pollinationof agricultural crops, but also serve as a key element in the over allconservation strategy for wild pollinators, and often aid other wild species aswell.
H
Ofcourse, not all farmers will be able to implement all of these practices. Andresearchers are suggesting a shift to a kind of polyglot agricultural system.For some small-scale farms, native bees may indeed be all that’s needed. Forlarger operations, a suite of managed bees—with honeybees filling thegeneralist role and other, native bees pollinating specific crops—could beaugmented by free pollination services from resurgent wild pollinators. Inother words, they’re saying, we still have an opportunity to replace a riskymonoculture with something diverse, resilient, and robust.
Questions27-30
Do thefollowing statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?In boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOTGIVEN if it is impossible to saywhat the writer thinks about this
27. Inthe United States, farmers use honeybees in a large scale over the past fewyears.
28.Cleaning farming practices would be harmful to farmers’ health
29. Theblue orchard bee is the most efficient pollinator among native bees for everycrop.
30. Itis beneficial to other local creatures to protect native bees.
Questions31-35
Choose thecorrect letter, A,B,C or D.
Writeyour answers in boxes 31-35 on your answer sheet.
31. Theexample of the ‘Fruitless Fair underlines the writer’s point about
A needsfor using pesticides.
B impactsof losing insect pollinators.
C vulnerabilitiesof native bees.
Dbenefits in building more pollination industries.
32. Whycan honeybees adapt to the modem agricultural system?
A thehoneybees can pollinated more crops efficiently
B Thebees are semi-domesticated since ancient times.
CHoneybee hives can be protected away from pesticides.
D Theability of wild pollinators using to serve crops declines.
33. Thewriter mentions factories and assembly lines to illustrate
A onedrawback of the industrialised agricultural system.
B a lowcost in modem agriculture.
C the roleof honeybees in pollination.
D what ahigh yield of industrial agriculture.
34. Inthe paragraph F,Wlnfree’s experiment proves that
A honeybeecan pollinate various crops.
B thereare many types of wild bees as the pollinators.
C thewild bees can increase the yield to a higher percentage
D wildbees work more efficiently as a pollinator than honey bees in certain cases
35. Whatdoes the writer want to suggest in the last paragraph?
A theimportance of honey bees in pollination
Badoption of different bees in various sizes of agricultural system
C thecomparison between the intensive and the rarefied agricultural system
D thereason why farmers can rely on native pollinators
Questions36-40
Completeeach sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.
Writethe correct letter, A-F, in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet
36.Headline of colony collapse disorder states that
37. Viewpointsof Freitas manifest that
38.Examples of blue orchard bees have shown that
39.Centris tarsata is mentioned to exemplify that
40. Onefinding of the research in Delaware Valley is that
A.native pollinators can survive when a specific plant is supplied.
B. itwould cause severe consequences both to commerce and agriculture.
C. honeybees cannot be bred.
D. someagricultural landscapes are favorable in supporting wild bees.
E. alarge scale of honey bees are needed to pollinate.
F. anagricultural system is fragile when relying on a single pollinator
答案:
27.YES 28.NG 29.NO 30.YES 31.B 32.C 33.A
34.D 35.B 36.B 37.F 38.E 39.A 40.D
回忆1:
大作文:有些国家的学生上大学时住在家里和家人一起,另一些国家的学生去另一个城市上大学。你认为上大学不和家人待在一起是不是利大于弊
小作文:折线图+表格,五个搜索引擎被搜索次数百分比的折线图,表格是两个年份英国总搜索次数
回忆2:
小作文:混合图(折线+表格)
2004-2010年,五个搜索引擎被搜索次数百分比的折线图,表格为两个年份英国总搜索次数。
大作文:
In some countries, university students live at home,while in other countries, university students go to other cities rather than live with their family. Do you think the benefits of living away from home outweigh the disadvantages?
回忆3:
阅读:
Passage1: 婚礼蛋糕
Passage 2: 小提琴制作
文章内容:
小提琴的制作, violin by manual work or large-scaleproduction
有些小提琴可以卖几百万,比如S打头的那种,但是新的可能就很便宜只要100刀。小提琴的制造,有人工的和一些科学方法。一起小提琴的厚度是用手tap,但是现在是用机器测。然后介绍了以前小提琴的制造和影响小提琴声音的因素。木头的影响,最初的几年过去后音质会变好。S打头的小提琴涂层里面有昆虫的翅膀,但是现代科技证明是没有证据的。现在一般小提琴家也会用新的小提琴,一些顶级的小提琴家(top soloist)还是会选择那些年的比较久远的琴。
主要观点是年代久远的乐器和现代乐器的价值比较,手工小提琴为什么那么贵;为什么多人喜欢手工的它是怎么制作的。现代科学对乐器制作的影响,评定之类的。(这篇文章用的词语都很大也很复杂,但是文章结构很容易把握,典型的议论文,一开始抛出的观点,然后陈述理由,最后问题完全没解决)
题型分布与参考答案
List Of Headings:
从争论价格到手工工艺到应用现代技术到现代技术不成功,到木材年代,到油漆差异,到木材处理差异,到top musician对手工和工业化violin的偏爱不同
old wood?
top artists' preference?
manual process, ..太细
TFNG:
第一个说不同的人演奏同一把琴也不一样
第二个说电脑比人的耳朵听音色更准确
第三个个说不同的人做出来的琴不一样
第四个科技在最初自动化做琴中有作用
第五个说工业生产的琴在高级琴师中开始流行
Passage3: 人类大脑的情绪 回忆4:
听力
P1:面试
题型:填空
1.Tuesday
2. 8.45
3.电话号码(待回忆)
4.6.50
5.waiting
6.contract
7.bank
8.uniform
9.password
10 computer
(答案和顺序可能不正确,欢迎来留言区讨论~)
P2:旅行住宿推荐
题型: 匹配题等
待回忆
P3:给学生提供体检项目
题型:选择+填空
待回忆
P4:修隧道的历史
题型:填空
31-36 配对
31. Two countries were planning to have suggestion of tunnel 对应 1750
32. The Committee was founded to check the feasibility 对应 1808
33. Stopped by financial problem, the government cancelled this project. 对应 1810
34. Proposal for bridge 对应 1830
35. Final agreement 对应 1930
36. ...some kind of scheme 对应 1970s
37-38 多选
37. 选择 popularity among people in two countries
38. 选择 passengers' safety reasons
39-40 填空
39. running tunnels
40. cross passages
(答案和顺序可能不正确,欢迎来留言区讨论~)
回忆5:
小作文
类型:折线图+表格
主题:五个搜索引擎被搜索次数百分比的折线图,表格是两个年份英国总搜索次数
TASK 2
大作文
题目:有些国家的学生上大学时住在家里和家人一起,另一些国家的学生去另一个城市上大学。你认为上大学不和家人待在一起是不是利大于弊
回忆6:
听力
Section 1 面试
Tuesday
8:45
waiting
uniform
bank
contract
Section 2 旅行住宿推荐
Section 3 给学生提供体检的项目
关键词:
time
space
causes
Section 4 英国隧道历史English Tunnels
31-36) Matching:
31 Two countries was planning to have suggestion of tunnel 1750
32 The committee was founded to check the feasibility 1808
33 Stopped by financial problem, the government canceled this project 1810
34 Proposal foe bridge 1830
35 Final agreement-to link 1930
36 Some kind of scheme/plan,started digging 197
37-38) Multiple Choice:
In 1905 why they sent people to participate in the competition by train?
37 Popularity among people in two countries
38 Passengers' safety reasons
Other options: technology, for protecting environment
t39-40) A passage links 2 running tunnels(mapping)
39 Little map: two roads outside are running tunnels
40 The split way is called cross passages
回忆7:
大作文:
In some countries, students studying in university live with their family, whereas in other countries, students choose to study in another city. Do you think the advantages of living away from homes while studying outweigh the disadvantages?
在某些国家上大学的学生会与家人一起住,而在其他国家学生会选择去其它城市学习。你认为读书时离家生活利大于弊吗?
思路解析
教育类话题是写作中常见的话题,而这道题更是非常贴近生活,相信很多同学都有到别的城市读大学的经历,所以大家可以从自己的切实体会中总结,月半这边也带大家来梳理下,“去别的城市读书”有哪些优劣势。
先说坏处吧,一是和家人相聚的机会少了,“每逢佳节倍思亲”,相比较在家乡读书每周甚至每天都能和家人见面,去外地读书可能每个月或者寒暑假才能和家人团聚,以及每次都有一笔额外的路程花销。
但是,国内现在高铁越来越发达,这极大程度上减少了城市与城市之间的交通时间,哪怕你到其他城市上大学,回家其实也越来越方便了。
(以前月半鸭在松江大学城读书,然后一个同学住在上海嘉定区,另一个住杭州,但每次回家,杭州的同学其实会比嘉定的同学更快到家……)
二是人生地不熟,你如果遇到什么突发事件比如生病,你很难第一时间得到亲人的帮助,只能自己面对和解决。(写这部分的时候+0跟我说讲述了她大学期间肠绞痛只能一个人从宿舍“爬”去很远的医院的悲惨经历~)
再来说说好处,首先你一个人生活,虽然会面临很多问题,但当你想要保持生活质量,就意味着要掌握各种技能、自己制定各种计划以及处理各种各样的生活问题。掌握的技能包括了付账单、洗衣服、做饭等,计划包括了控制自己的收支,让自己收支平衡;规划均衡的饮食和锻炼,让自己保持健康,避免因为生病等等带来的麻烦。
学会了以上种种也就意味着你掌握了独立生活的能力,而这一点在工作后是非常重要的,早一些掌握意味着你在将来付出的成本就越少。
此外,再说的远一点,很多同学将来总会要组建家庭,父母总会变老,你总会面临要照顾孩子和父母的情况,那这些技能也是非常必要的。
其次,你选择去其它城市读书,其实主动割断了对原生家庭的依赖,哪怕你不想依赖父母,但在国内很多父母会将孩子保护的很好,他们会主动帮孩子解决问题或者做些事情,或者由于你们生活在一起,你的思想很多时候依然会受到影响。而到了其它城市,对父母来说哪怕他们想帮忙也帮不了,客观上也给孩子创造了一个锻炼独立自主能力的环境,也更利于孩子思想独立。
最后回到题目本身,无论你认为更好还是更坏,大家一定要记得在首段立论,明确自己的观点。
高分范文示例
In many western countries, a majority of high school graduates who perceive the admission to university as a milestone prefer to embark on a new adventure in some new places away from home. As far as I am concerned, such a preference for a parent-free life experience over tertiary education does bring more benefits than drawbacks to these adolescents.
There are two major advantages in regard to living away from parents. The first and foremost positive effect on the young is an expanded social circle. Although the estrangement with family members might be a concern for those choosing universities nationwide over the local ones considering the problems in maintaining a stable relationship with close relatives back in hometown, such a worry actually is unnecessary in that the wide application of social media and telecommunication techniques has significantly weakened the geographical barrier. Instead, once the youngsters adapt to a new environment, they can seize more opportunities to get acquainted with students from other regions of the country. Not only can this improve their social skills, but they can also enrich and accumulate interpersonal resources with diverse backgrounds as well, which might be beneficial for their future career path. The second bright side is to cultivate the capability of independent life. The moment they move into a residence hall on campus or share a flat with other peers off campus, they have to develop some life skills, such as doing housekeeping, managing finances and getting along with roommates, to name just a few. With these indispensable life skills for independence, they can make a smoother transition when they enter the workforce.
However, the downside of this choice might be obvious for the beginning period of a care-free life. Compared with going to a local university, choosing one in another city could give rise to certain degrees of inconvenience in a freshman’s life at first. The daily trivial matters like washing dishes or tidying rooms may even create undue pressure and distract those young students from the study, which negatively affects their concentration to study. However, since the initial discomfort is transitory, the process of overcoming these nuisances can at the same time enrich their life experience and foster their adaptability.
To conclude, I believe it is worth advocating for university students to live away from home considering the advantages of their social and life skills, although it may not be easy at the very first beginning.
相关词汇和语法结构
milestone 里程碑
estrangement 疏远
geographical barrier 地理障碍
get acquaintance with 了解,熟悉
housekeeping 家务
trivial matters 琐事
undue pressure 不必要的压力
nuisance 麻烦
回忆8:
回忆9:
回忆10:
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