雅思阅读-075-56-million-bees-under-ny-cemetery改编自-scientific-american-带音频

ielts 👁 12 · 💬 0 · 📅 2026-09-14
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雅思阅读 075 — 5.6 Million Bees Found Under a New York Cemetery

改编自 Scientific American（2026-04，Jackie Flynn Mogensen）。研究发表于 Apidologie。

🎧 课文朗读音频（约 1 分半）

Reading Passage

A New York State cemetery may be home to nearly 5.6 million ground-nesting bees, according to a new study. The colony is one of the largest ever recorded and likely one of the oldest, the researchers note.

Though bees are often depicted as hive dwellers, the vast majority of species of these insects in the U.S. — around 70 per cent — are in fact ground-nesting bees, or bees that burrow in the ground. These bees are often solitary, meaning they nest alone rather than in large groups, explains Bryan Danforth, an entomology professor at Cornell University and senior author of the new study.

Scientists have known that one species of these bees, Andrena regularis, has been at the East Lawn Cemetery in Ithaca, N.Y., since at least 1935. (The cemetery dates back to 1878.) But no one knew exactly how many bees lived there.

Over about a month and a half in 2023, researchers at Cornell University collected bees at various sites around the cemetery and estimated how many members of A. regularis were living underground.

They found an "extraordinary abundance," the scientists wrote in their paper, published in the journal Apidologie.

Specifically, the group estimated that 5.56 million bees "emerged" — ventured out to forage and mate — in the spring of 2023 across an area of about 6,500 square metres. For reference, the authors note, a honeybee colony typically includes around 30,000 individuals. On apple farms, where Danforth has conducted extensive research, you might find about two or three colonies per hectare, or about two football fields.

"I was completely floored when we did the calculations," Danforth says. "I have seen published estimates of bee aggregations in the hundreds of thousands. But I never really imagined that it would be 5.56 million bees."

One study in Arizona estimated some 1.6 million Centris caesalpiniae bees emerged from a 1,290-square-metre site in one year. Another study tallied 651,440 Melissodes bimaculatus bees on a suburban lawn in upstate New York, while a third study estimated approximately 13,500 Epicharis picta bees in a 160-square-metre site in Brazil.

The new research points to the importance of cemeteries as habitat for ground-nesting bees — an "exceptionally important" pollinator, Danforth says.

"The solitary bees are totally underappreciated. I spend a lot of time trying to encourage people to appreciate the solitary bees, just because they do so much, and they're kind of under the radar," Danforth adds. "But they're fascinating creatures."

The discovery also highlights the unexpected ecological value of urban and suburban green spaces. Cemeteries, with their undisturbed soil and sparse foot traffic, can provide ideal nesting habitat for ground-nesting bees. As natural habitats continue to be lost to development, such spaces may become increasingly important refuges for pollinators.

Questions

Questions 1–5: TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN

  1. About 70% of US bee species are ground-nesting.
  2. Ground-nesting bees live in large hives.
  3. Andrena regularis has been at East Lawn Cemetery since at least 1935.
  4. The study was conducted in 2020.
  5. A typical honeybee colony has about 5.6 million bees.

Questions 6–10: Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

  1. How many bees were estimated to have emerged at East Lawn Cemetery?

    • A. 650,000
    • B. 1.6 million
    • C. 5.56 million
    • D. 30,000

  2. Over what area did these bees live?

    • A. 160 square metres
    • B. 1,290 square metres
    • C. 6,500 square metres
    • D. 65,000 square metres

  3. A typical honeybee colony contains about

    • A. 3,000 bees
    • B. 30,000 bees
    • C. 300,000 bees
    • D. 3 million bees

  4. The bee aggregation in Arizona had approximately

    • A. 13,500 bees
    • B. 651,440 bees
    • C. 1.6 million bees
    • D. 5.56 million bees

  5. According to Danforth, cemeteries are important for ground-nesting bees because they

    • A. have lots of flowers
    • B. have undisturbed soil and sparse foot traffic
    • C. are near apple orchards
    • D. are pesticide-free by law

Questions 11–13: Complete the sentences. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS.

  1. The study was led by Bryan Danforth at __________ University.
  2. The paper was published in the journal __________.
  3. East Lawn Cemetery is located in __________, N.Y.

Answers

  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE (独居，单独筑巢)
  3. TRUE
  4. FALSE (2023年)
  5. FALSE (典型蜂群约3万只)
  6. C
  7. C
  8. B
  9. C
  10. B
  11. Cornell
  12. Apidologie
  13. Ithaca

Glossary

  • ground-nesting bee 筑巢于地下的蜜蜂
  • solitary /ˈsɒlətri/ adj. 独居的
  • entomology /ˌentəˈmɒlədʒi/ n. 昆虫学
  • emerge /ɪˈmɜːdʒ/ v. 羽化出现
  • forage /ˈfɒrɪdʒ/ v. 觅食
  • pollinator /ˈpɒlɪneɪtə/ n. 传粉者
  • habitat /ˈhæbɪtæt/ n. 栖息地
  • aggregation /ˌæɡrɪˈɡeɪʃn/ n. 聚集
  • burrow /ˈbʌrəʊ/ v. 掘洞

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