American beekeeping operations have been hit hard by what scientists call Colony Collapse Disorder. Almost half of their worker bees have disappeared during the past season. C.C.D. has also been reported in Israel, Europe and South America. Bees fly away from the hive and never return. Sometimes they are found dead; other times they are never found. Many crops and trees depend on pollination （授粉） by bees to help them grow.

    A new report says virus may be at least partly responsible for the disorder in honey bee colonies in the United States. This virus is called Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus. It was first identified in Israel in 2004. Ian Lipkin at Columbia University in New York and a team reported the new findings in Science magazine. Doctor Lipkin says the virus may not be the only cause. He says it may work with other causes to produce the collapse disorder.

    The team found the virus in colonies with the help of a map of honey bee genes that was published last year. They examined thirty colonies affected by the disorder. They found evidence of the virus in twenty – five of them, and in one healthy colony. The next step is further testing of healthy hives.

    The researchers suggested that the United States may have imported the disorder in bees from Australia. They say the bees may carry the virus but not be affected.

    The idea is that unlike many American bees, the ability of Australian bees to fight disease has not been hurt by the varroa mite. This insect attacks honey bees, which could make the disorder more likely to affect a hive. Australian bee producers reject these suspicions.

    And some researchers suspect that bee production in the United States is down mainly because of the weather. Honey bees gather nectar（花蜜） from flowers and trees. The sweet liquid gives them food and material to make honey. But cold weather this spring in the Midwest reduced the flow of nectar in many flowers. Many bees may have starved. Dry weather in areas of the country could also be playing a part.

    Wayne Esaias is a NASA space agency scientist who keeps bees in his free time. He lives in central Maryland, where he has found that flowers are blooming a month earlier than they did in 1970, which may be partly responsible for the disorder. Wayne Esaias is organizing a group of beekeepers to document nectar flow around the country.

What is the author’s attitude to the causes of the bee disorder?

    A. critical         B. neutral

    C. supportive      D. negative

What is the passage mainly about?

    A. American beekeeping industry has been strongly influenced by the bee disorder.

    B. Studies are being carried out on the causes of the bee disorder, but questions remain.

    C. How the causes of the bee disorder in U.S have been found.

    D. The bee production in U.S is down.

How many possibilities may be involved in the bee disorder according to the passage?

    A. Three    B. Four C. Five D. Six

We can infer that         from the passage.

    A. Israeli acute paralysis virus should be responsible for the disorder.

    B. The solution to the disorder will be found eventually.

    C. American bees are more likely to defend themselves against hurt from other insects than Australian ones.

    D. Many crop and plant production in U.S may be influenced by the bee disorder.

US bees operation keeping groups have been attacked seriously by so called Colony （群体）Collapse Disorder．Almost 1/2 of their worker bees have vanished during the past season．This disorder has also been reported in Israel, Europe and South America．Bees fly away from the hive and never return．Sometimes they are found dead; other times they are never found．Many crops and trees depend  on pollination^^}） by bees to help them grow． 

A new report says a virus may be at least partly responsible for the disorder in honey bee colonies in the United States．This virus is called Israeli acute paralysis virus．It was first found in Israel in 2004．lan Lipkin at Columbia University in New York and a team reported the new findings in Science Magazine．Doctor Lipkin says the virus may not be the only cause．He says it may work with other causes to produce the collapse disorder．

The team found the virus in colonies with the help of a map of honey bee genes that was published last year．They examined thirty colonies affected by the disorder．They found evidence of the virus in twenty-five of them, and in one healthy colony．The next step is further testing of healthy hives．

The researchers suggested that the United States may have imported the disorder in bees from Australia．They say the bees may carry the virus but not be affected．

The idea is that unlike many American bees, the ability of Australian bees to fight disease has not been hurt by the varroa mite．This insect attacks honey bees, which could make the disorder more likely to affect a hive．Australian bee producers object to these suspicions．

And some researchers suspect that bee production in the United States is down mainly because of the weather．Honey bees gather nectar from flowers and trees．The sweet liquid gives them food and material to make honey．But cold weather this spring in the Midwest reduced the flow of nectar in many flowers．Many bees may have starved．Dry weather in areas of the country could also be playing apart．

Wayne Esaias is a NASA space agency scientist who keeps bees in his free time．He lives in central Maryland, where he has found that flowers are blooming a month earlier than they did in 1970, which may be partly responsible for the disorder. Wayne Esaias is organizing a group of beekeepers to document nectar flow around the country.

What is the author’s attitude toward the cause of this disorder?

       A．Doubtful. B．Neutral.    C．Supportive.      D．Negative.

The researchers found the virus sharply by            .

       A．studying the published Science Magazine

       B．researching the causes of bee death

       C．examining some affected colony

       D．exploring a connected chart

The passage is mainly developed by             .

       A．presenting the effect and analyzing its causes

       B．making comparisons between two countries

       C．providing data and examples

       D．following the time order

How many possibilities may be involved in the bee disorder according to the passage?

       A．Three       B．Four  C．Five  D．Six

From the passage we can infer that            .

       A．American bees are more likely to defend themselves against hurt from other insects than Australian ones

       B．A collection of plants production in U.S ay be influenced by the bee disorder

       C．Israeli acute paralysis virus should be responsible for the disorder

       D．The solution to the disorder will be found eventually

US bees operation keeping groups have been attacked seriously by so called Colony Collapse Disorder (蜂群衰竭失调)．Almost 1/2 of their worker bees have vanished during the past season．This disorder has also been reported in Israel, Europe and South America．Bees fly away from the hive and never return．Sometimes they are found dead; other times they are never found．Many crops and trees depend on pollination--- by bees to help them grow． 

A new report says a virus may be at least partly responsible for the disorder in honey bee colonies in the United States．This virus is called Israeli acute paralysis virus．It was first found in Israel in 2004．Lan Lipkin at Columbia University in New York and a team reported the new findings in Science Magazine．Doctor Lipkin says the virus may not be the only cause．He says it may work with other causes to produce the collapse disorder．

The team found the virus in colonies with the help of a map of honey bee genes that was published last year．They examined thirty colonies affected by the disorder．They found evidence of the virus in twenty-five of them, and in one healthy colony．The next step is further testing of healthy hives．

The researchers suggested that the United States may have imported the disorder in bees from Australia．They say the bees may carry the virus but not be affected．

The idea is that unlike many American bees, the ability of Australian bees to fight disease has not been hurt by the varroasis mite．This insect attacks honey bees, which could make the disorder more likely to affect a hive．Australian bee producers object to these suspicions．

And some researchers suspect that bee production in the United States is down mainly because of the weather．Honey bees gather nectar from flowers and trees．The sweet liquid gives them food and material to make honey．But cold weather this spring in the Midwest reduced the flow of nectar in many flowers．Many bees may have starved．Dry weather in areas of the country could also be playing apart．

Wayne Esaias is a NASA space agency scientist who keeps bees in his free time．He lives in central Maryland, where he has found that flowers are blooming a month earlier than they did in 1970, which may be partly responsible for the disorder. Wayne Esaias is organizing a group of beekeepers to document nectar flow around the country.

What is the author’s attitude toward the cause of this disorder?

    A. Doubtful B. Neutral  C. Supportive   D. Negative

The passage is mainly developed by             .

    A. presenting the effect and analyzing its causes

    B. making comparisons between two countries

    C. providing data and examples

    D. following the time order

How many possibilities may be involved in the bee disorder according to the passage?

    A. Three    B. Four C. Five D. Six

From the passage we can infer that            .

    A. American bees are more likely to defend themselves against hurt from other insects than Australian ones

    B. A collection of plants production in the U.S may be influenced by the bee disorder

    C. Israeli acute paralysis virus should be responsible for the disorder

    D. The solution to the disorder will be found eventually

“There is an out – of – date idea that children grow up and leave home when they’re 18,and the truth is far from that,” says Mr．Larry Bumpass of the University of Wisconsin．Today unexpected numbers of young adults are living with their parents．“There is a great change in the middle class,” declares Allan Schnaiberg of Northwestern University, whose son, 19, moved back in after an absence of eight months．
Scientists show a number of reasons for this return to the nest．The marriage age is rising, a condition that makes home and its pleasantness particularly attractive to young people．A high divorce （离婚） rate and a low remarriage rate make some differences．For some, the expense of an away - from - home college education has become so great that many students now attend local schools．Even after graduation, young people find their wings tied by terrible housing costs．
Living at home, says Knighton, a school teacher, continues to give security （安全保卫） and moral（道义的） support．Her mother agreed．“Its strange for the kids to pay all that money for rent．It makes sense for kids to stay at home．” But sharing the family home requires changes for all．There are the hassles over bathrooms, telephones and privacy．Some families, however, manage the careful balancing act．But for others, it proves too difficult．Michelle Del Turco, 24, has been home three times and left three times．“What I considered a social drink, my dad considered an alcohol （酒精） problem,” she explains．“He never liked anyone I dated, so I either had to hide away or meet them at friends' houses．”
Just how long should adult children live with their parents before moving on? Most scientists feel lengthy homecomings are a mistake．Children, can end up with a sense of defeat and failure．And aging parents, who should be enjoying some freedom, find themselves stuck with too many things．Many agree that brief visits, however, can work well．
【小题1】According to the author, there was once a trend in the U．S．________．

More surprising,perhaps, than the present difficulties of traditional marriage is the fact that marriage itself is alive and thriving.As Skolnick notes,Americans are a marrying people: relative to Europeans, more of us marry and we marry at a younger age. Moreover, after a drop in the early 1915s,the rate of marriage in the United States is now increasing. Even the divorce rate needs to be taken in this pro?marriage context: some 30 percent of divorced individuals remarry. Thus, marriage remains by far the preferred way of life for the vast majority of people in our society.

What has changed more than marriage is the nuclear family. Twenty?five years ago, the typical American family was made up of a husband, a wife, and two or three children.Now,there are many marriages in which couples have decided not to have any children. And there are many marriages where at least some of the children are from the wife’s former marriage, or the husband’s, or both.Sometimes these children spend all of their time with one parent from the former marriage; sometimes they are shared between the two former spouses (配偶).

Thus, one can find every type of family arrangement. There are marriages without children; marriages with children from only the persent marriage;  marriages with “full?time” children from both the present and former marriages; marriages with “full?time” children from the present marriage and “part?time” children from former marriages. There are stepfathers, stepmothers, half?brothers, and half?sisters.It is not all that unusual for a child to have four parents and eight grandparents! These are great changes from the traditional nuclear family.But even so, even in the midst  of all this, there remains one constant: Most Americans spend most of their adult lives married.

13.By calling American marrying people the author means that .      

A.Americans are more traditional than Europeans  

B.Americans expect more out of marriage than Europeans

C.there are more married couples in U.S.A. than in Europe

D.more of Americans,as compared with Europeans, prefer marriage and they accept it at a younger age

14.Divorced Americans        .

A.prefer the way they live 

B.will most likely remarry   

C.have lost faith in marriage          

D.are the vast majority of people in the society

15.Which of the following can be presented as the picture of today’s American families?

A.Many types of family arrangements have become socially acceptable.

B.A typical American family is made up of only a husband and a wife.

C.Americans prefer to have more kids than before.     D.There are no nuclear families any more.

16.“Part time”children        .

A.spend some of their time with their half brothers and some of their time with their half?sisters

B.spend all of their time with one parent from the previous marriage

C.are shared between the two former spouses          D.cannot stay with “full?time” children

17.Even though great changes have taken place in the structure of American families, .

A.the vast majority of Americans still have faith in marriage

B.the functions of marriage remain unchanged      

C.most Americans prefer a second marriage   

D.most divorced Americans would rather not remarry