All across California, honeybees are flying away from their hives and dying. Empty hives are causing a lot of worry about some important food crops. Bees give us a lot more than delicious honey. They are pollinators --they enable plants to produce the fruits and nuts we enjoy by carrying pollen from one plant or flower to the next. The wind pollinates oats, corn, and wheat, but many other plants (like apple and cherry trees and melon vines) depend on insects, bats, and birds. In the U.S., millions and millions of bees kept by human beekeepers fly around doing a lot of this important work for food crops. "Bees are worth protecting because their work adds so much to our diet," says Dr. Jeff Pettis of the Bee Research Laboratory. California's almond crop alone depends on about half the bees in the country. But now the almond crop and many others could be in trouble with so many bees dying. Researchers at government and university labs all over the country are trying to figure out why so many bees are dying. However, bees are hard to study. Most die away from the hive, so researchers don't have dead bodies to examine. And when researchers return to a hive after two weeks, about half the bees they studied on their first visit will be dead, replaced by new ones in the natural life cycle of bees. "It isn't like studying a large animal like a cow that doesn't move around much and is easy to find out in the cow field," says Pettis. Researchers have some ideas about what could be affecting bee health. They could be sick from poisons widely used to kill insects, or they might not be getting enough good food to stay strong. Also, tiny insects called mites feed on bees. "A virus or bacteria could also be doing the killing." explains Pettis. Bees are hard to study because _ . A) they move around too much B) new bees soon replace all the bees studied by researchers C) they are too tiny D) they never return to hives
A

What makes a house a home? Not size, of course. I've been in some of the grandest houses in America, and it's readily apparent that no one lives there. Earlier this year, I had dinner in a mud hut in Ethiopia, where we sat on chairs next to the hostess's bed --- a home that had more warmth than any house I've been in since. Now John Edwards is exploring what makes a house a home in his just-released Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives. There Edwards writes, "This is a book about homes, the values they rest on, the dreams they are filled with, and the people they have shaped. The houses and circumstances are different, but much of what you find inside will be familiar." Whether you're sitting in an airport right now, waiting to fly to your childhood home for Thanksgiving, or in your own home waiting for the s to arrive, you know what he's talking about. We've lived in our townhouse for 21 years. The loose windows make noise in the wind. The fireplace is so shallow it holds only one log. The kitchen window offers a view of the world passing by. It's where friends sit on the kitchen counter drinking wine while dinner is being fixed. I lived there for only 18 years, but it will always be my true home. Even the lamp in the west living room window, which I could see far down the road when driving home late at night, still shines. While all this talk about childhood memories can be warm and comforting, home is whom you're with, not where you are. As Edwards writes, "Home is family. Home is safety. Home is faith." Happy homecoming! It can be inferred according to the text that _ . A) the author's family were very rich B) every happy home is exactly the same C) the author has been living a hard life D) the author and Edwards hold similar ideas
D

Peter Jackson, currently one of the world's most well-known directors and the unofficial face of the entire nation of New Zealand, was born on October 31, 1961 in Pukerua Bay, New Zealand. He liked to take photographs, so a family friend bought the young Jackson a super 8mm camera. He has been a filmmaker even since. At age nine he even attempted to remake his favorite film, King Kong, using his own stop-motion effect. Unlike many of the filmmakers working today, Jackson never went to film school. Instead he created his own short films with the help of family and friends. He was turned down for a job at the National Film Unit, New Zealand's government agency that produces tourist films about the country. With that avenue closed, Jackson began working other jobs to support himself, while shooting shorts on the weekend. One of these weekend films, expanded from its original ten minutes length into a feature film. The project took four years to complete (1983-1987)and was called Bad Taste. After the success of Bad Taste, Jackson became recognized as a director and the door to fame and fortune was opened. He gave up his job at a local photographer's shop and became a well-known director of horror-movies. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is obviously a huge landmark in Jackson's career, not only did the films become some of the most commercially successful of all time, _ His digital effects company, WETA Digital, became one of, if not the most respected effects company in the world; similarly, Jackson has also expressed an interest in returning to his roots and directing some lower-budget splatter films again. The purpose of the passage is to _ . A) show us Peter Jackson is a most well-known directors B) tell us there is a famous person in New Zealand C) introduce some information about Peter Jackson D) tell some film stories made by Peter Jackson
C

Gao Xiaosong,the 42-year-old singer,music producer and director was three times over the legal alcohol limit when he crashed his Infiniti SUV into a car stopped at a red light in Beijing May 9. A blood test showed Gao had 243.04 milligrams of alcohol for 100 milliliters of blood,well over the 80 milligram limit within a 100 milliliters of blood. On Tuesday afternoon the man known to million for his harsh comments to participants on China's Got Talent had to face the judge himself at Beijing Dongcheng District People's Court under China's newly amended Road Traffic Safety Law. "I've nothing to defend myself only regret," he told the courtroom filled with people. "I always thought alcohol could bring me freedom,but it never occurred to me that drunk driving will rid others of their freedom. l' 11 be responsible for all the loss it has caused. This incident showed my irresponsibility for life. I'm willing to be a volunteer for my life promoting the non-drunk driving." A day earlier at an administrative punishment hearing, wearing an orange detention suit,he was banned from driving for five years and fined 1,000 yuan for having an expired license. On May 10 he was pictured at Beijing's traffic police headquarters where he turned down requests for interviews,but wrote on a piece of paper,"sorry,never drive when drunk." Now he has become the first celebrity to be punished under the tough new rules that came into effect on May 1. Guo Shudong,the first driver sentenced since the new law was introduced,was jailed for four months for being twice over the legal limit on May 9. Gao,famous for campus song "My Deskmate" in the 1990s,was replaced by music producer and composer Antonio Chen during the recording of China's Got Talent on May 10. What is the author's attitude toward Gao Xiaosong? A) Support B) Pity C) Doubt D) Hatred
B