TEXT H来源：考试大

　　First read the questions. 55. What is the bees great contribution to mankind? A. they can provide mankind honey which is valuable nutrition. B. pollination benefits mankind most. C. beekeeping is a very profitable business which enables a great number of people earn a living. D. the bee is a significant node in the chain of ecological system. 56. Why does the author mention the womens liberation movement? A. to make a comparison between the womens liberation movement and bees female monarchy society. B. to draw an analogy. C. to defend womens liberation movement with the example of bees female dominating culture. D. to illustrate an unparallel example for womens liberation movement. Now go through Text H quickly to answer question 35 and 36. A lush spring and summer are certain to bring acute frustrations and violent twinges of conscience farmers and gardeners, for if they dont use harmful insecticides, they may have fewer flowers, fruits, vegetables, or fodder —— temporarily; if they do use such insecticides, they may have no honeybees —— permanently. On balance, however, the latter is by far the greater evil, for pollination is the bees greatest gift to mankind, greater than the honey in the honeycomb; if the bees are eradicated, man will surly face disasters worse than army worms, Japanese beetles, or crab grass. Beekeeping was practically unknown in the Western Hemisphere until after the first European settlers arrived. The earliest reference to beekeeping here come from Virginia, where beekeeping was practical apiary in 1622; however, by 1640 Newbury, Massachusetts, and a fine municipal apiary, and in 1641 bee colonies in New England were selling for five pounds a piece, the equivalent of fifteen days labor by a skilled craftsman. Today, the New England honey crop, for example, total more than a million pounds of honey from approximately 38,000 colonies; this, however, represent only a relatively small part of Americans nearly five million colonies, most of which are now in the South and the West. Will there continue to be that many colonies? Already about a half million colonies have been destroyed by poisonous insecticides, and all over the country entomologists and ecologists are deeply worried about the loss of honeybees and the threat of dwindling food supplies as there pollinations are killed off. Imagine pollinating a ten-acre field with clumsy fingers. It takes a busy bee about seven seconds per sip, and a minimum of a 15,000 bees per acre can handle the job with dispatch daily, hence, producers of vast acreage of fruits, vegetables, and fodders plants rent hives of bees in the springtime to do the work which neither man nor machine can duplicate. Although bees have been in existence for millions of years and wild honey was sought by the most primitive man, it was only five or six thousand years ago that bees began to be cultivated and "managed " in apiaries. They became so precious to the Egyptian economy, in fact, that the pharaohs forbade the removal of any of them. Finally, after several unsuccessful bee nappings, St. Sossima managed to smuggle out ten honeybees and a queen in a hollow reed, and legend holds that all the honeybees now registered and "managed" are descendants of these Egyptian bees. Beekeeping is not without its hazards, however; in fact, Jay Mc Donough of Connecticut found that it can be rather disconcerting for the beginner. Several years ago, with his wife and two young daughters, Jay bought a fine old house, cleared land for an organic vegetable garden, and ordered a supply of bees for pollination purposes. He originally assumed he wanted the bees only for pollination, but the family soon discovered the advantages of a ready supply of honey and beeswax. At the outset, however, like any inexperienced beekeeper, Jay learned the hard way. His first three pounds of bees, shipped from Georgia with the queen-to-be carefully boxed separately and surrounded with honey-candy which would later be eaten off by her subjects when released her for her duties, arrived early one morning just as Jay, a first officer and copilot for Trans World Airlines, was due to leave for a six-day flight. At that juncture, he did not realize that bees caged for a relatively long journey have only vengeance on their minds. Nighttime, when bees are ready for bed, is the only time to release them, so that their queen with relative calm and enthusiasm, they will establish proper housekeeping arrangement. Time was pressing, however; so Jay carefully shook the caged bees into their new hive, deposited the unsuspecting queen in the midst of everything, and departed. Angry and disgruntled, the bees promptly tore into the queens retreat, stung her to death in reprisal for her mismanagement, and flew around confusedly. Fortunately, a local beekeeper who inspects registered bees came by that first day, learned of the palace revolt, and quickly introduced one of his own queens, successfully establish her on the throne before further damage occurred. In a few days she was laying from 2000 to 3000 eggs per day, and now there are several hives operating on the Mc Donough place. Beekeepers in general are outspoken critics of the wanton use of insecticides, and Olympio Cartinelli, also of Connecticut, is no exception, for not long ago Mr. Cartinellis fifteen colonies of honeybees were destroyed in a single day by a neighbors use of sprays to control the army worms in his cornfield. The whole family grieved over the loss of their hard-working friends, and so, in fact, did the neighbor because the bees had been pollinating other producing fields of his and the yield was sharply reduced. The bees invaluable aid to man is , of course, merely a side effect from the bees point of view, the bees main purpose in life being the production of honey food for herself and royal jelly for her queen; nursing feeding, and protecting the babies; and tolerating a few necessary males, the drones. Incidentally, the womens liberation movement would do well to study bee culture for pointers; the little honey-makers have the girl backed right the map when it comes to organization, sharply defined responsibilities, and control of males in a female monarchy. Whats more, the bees obviously know something we dont: we are aware that royal jelly has unique life-giving qualities, but cannot exactly define or reproduce it in a test tube. The praise and respect accorded bees by those who know and appreciate them is perhaps best summarized by Francis H. Mattutat, president of a firm which deals in bulk honey: "Bees are the only creatures that have come on the earth to bring creativity, without destructive side effect. They proliferate without upsetting other life cycles. In taking pollen and nectar to create honey, they render a greater service to plants, animals, and humanity. They set an example of instant justice, too. When in anger, confusion, of self-defense a bee stings its adversary, it instantly destroys itself. The use of its stinger id a one-time protest. Giving more than it takes, the bee is probably the most useful creature on earth."

　　55. What is the bee's great contribution to mankind?来源：考试大

　　A) they can provide mankind honey which is valuable nutrition.

　　B) pollination benefits mankind most.来源：考试大

　　C) beekeeping is a very profitable business which enables a great number of people earn a living.

　　D) the bee is a significant node in the chain of ecological system.

　　56. Why does the author mention the women's liberation    movement?

　　A) to make a comparison between the women's liberation movement and bees' female monarchy society.

　　B) to draw an analogy.来源：考试大

　　C) to defend women's liberation movement with the example of bees' female dominating culture.

　　D) to illustrate an unparallel example for women's liberation movement.