D
To look inside an ant nest is to meet with an alien civilization. The boiling mass of worker ants beneath an upturned stone is both strangely reminiscent of (聯(lián)想到) human society and strikingly different. There is an organization that fascinates us and a long line of myrmecophiles (or ant lovers) leads back all the way to King Solomon, who in fact advised people to “go to the ant, consider her ways and be wise”. This was exactly the inspiration behind Planet Ant, a TV program showcasing what we know about the kingdom of ants, and what ants can teach us about the human world.
Like us, ants build structures, find food, defend their societies and manage waste, and-also like us-they must be well organized. For example, the leaf-cutting ants of Planet Ant have special waste disposal areas for storing harmful waste and a team of “waste-disposal ants” dedicated to keeping the nest clean. But ants achieve this familiar final result in a very different way to humans. Human societies have centralized control. In other words, someone tells us what to do. Ants, on the other hand, have decentralized control and neither the queen nor any other ant directs work. Ant workers are the final self-starters, following specific, but potentially flexible, rules in certain situations.
Chemical trails underpin much of this self-organization. Foragers (覓食者) lay a mix of chemicals known as trail pheromone (信息素) behind them as they walk. Other ants follow the trail and if they find food they reinforce it, laying more pheromone as they return to the nest. Stronger trails are more likely to be followed, so trails leading to food become progressively reinforced, while trails with no food at the end fade away.
This combination of positive feedback and evaporation (蒸發(fā)) produces an effective foraging system that is very good at finding the quickest routes to food. This simple guiding principle, and others like it, have provided some useful solutions to the complex problems faced by engineers, computer scientists and businesses.
12. Why does the author mention King Solomon in the first paragraph?
A. To provide a background. B. To show admiration for him.
C. To stress the wisdom of ants. D. To explain an abstract theory.
13. How do ants behave while performing tasks?
A. They get orders from their partners. B. They choose to do only routine tasks.
C. They strictly follow the queen’s orders. D. They follow their own senses and certain rules.
14. What does the underlined word “underpin” in paragraph 3 probably mean?
A. Decide. B. Support. C. Develop. D. Calculate.
15. What information can we get about trail pheromone from the text?
A. It comes from the food resources. B. It appears before ants’ self-organization.
C. It leads the following ants to food. D. It helps ants find their way back home.
【答案】12. C 13. D 14. B 15. C
【解析】
【分析】這是一篇說(shuō)明文。文章介紹了螞蟻充滿智慧
工作方式，這種工作方式為人類提供了很多靈感。
【12題詳解】
目的意圖題。根據(jù)第一段第三句中的“go to the ant, consider her ways and be wise”（去看看螞蟻，想想她的方式，然后變得有智慧）可知，作者在第一段提到了所羅門王是為了強(qiáng)調(diào)螞蟻的智慧。故選C。
【13題詳解】
推理判斷題。根據(jù)第二段最后兩句“Ants, on the other hand, have decentralized control and neither the queen nor any other ant directs work. Ant workers are the final self-starters, following specific, but potentially flexible, rules in certain situations.”（另一方面，螞蟻的控制是分散的，既不是蟻后也不是其他螞蟻指揮工作。螞蟻工作者是最后的自我啟動(dòng)者，在某些情況下遵循特定但可能靈活的規(guī)則。）可知，在工作時(shí)螞蟻?zhàn)裱约旱母杏X(jué)和某些規(guī)則。故選D。
【14題詳解】
詞義猜測(cè)題。根據(jù)第三段第二句“Foragers(覓食者) lay a mix of chemicals known as trail pheromone(信息素) behind them as they walk.”（覓食者行走時(shí)，身后會(huì)有一種被稱為“蹤跡信息素”的化學(xué)物質(zhì)混合物。）可知，劃線部分所在句子意為“化學(xué)蹤跡對(duì)這種自組織起到支持作用。”所以underpin意為“支持”，與support同義。故選B。
【15題詳解】
細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段最后兩句“Other ants follow the trail and if they find food they reinforce it, laying more pheromone as they return to the nest. Stronger trails are more likely to be followed, so trails leading to food become progressively reinforced, while trails with no food at the end fade away.”（其他螞蟻沿著這條路走，如果它們找到了食物，它們會(huì)加強(qiáng)這條路，在返回巢穴時(shí)釋放更多的信息素。更強(qiáng)的路徑更有可能被跟蹤，所以通往食物的路徑會(huì)逐漸加強(qiáng)，而最后沒(méi)有食物的路徑會(huì)逐漸消失。）可知，蹤跡信息素引導(dǎo)跟隨的螞蟻找到食物。故選C。
