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Read two texts on bees. From the provided answers, select the correct one, consistent with the text. Choose one of the liters: A, B, C or D.

Text 2.

MONITORING THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES

“2 bee, or not 2 bee?” That is the question Londoners could be asking when trying to spot one of hundreds of specially numbered bees released into the capital. Biologists at Queen Mary University of London have super-glued “licence plates” to 500 bees and will be sending them off from campus rooftops as part of the London Pollinator Project aimed at preventing a further decline in urban bee numbers caused by habitat loss, pesticides or a lack of flowers rich in nectar and pollen. In an effort to restore the population of these beneficial creatures, researchers are attempting to uncover the secret lives of the insects: locate their preferred patches in the capital and discover their favourite flowers. Hopefully, thanks to these findings, appropriate steps can be taken and the number of bees will gradually go up.

Local residents can play a part in the project by creating bee-friendly spaces. Should the same bees return to their balcony or garden, they can record how many times during the day bees do so and which flowers they choose. Then they can send these observations to the researchers using a dedicated smartphone app. In addition, to encourage a city-wide appreciation of bees, the university is also going to award prizes for the best snapshots of these insects. Pictures should be sent via email to the address given on the university website.

Knowledge acquired about bee memory for places or flower preferences can help the authorities improve planting schemes which aim to stimulate bee population growth. Additionally, this experience is likely to develop individuals’ connections with bees and, consequently, awaken a deeper understanding of why assistance with the conservation of these threatened creatures is crucial. According to bee experts, Britain’s bees are facing multiple threats, but we can all play a part in helping them. Making our cities friendly to bees is easy and can make a real difference to the insects’ survival.

adapted from www.telegraph.co.uk 

Tekst 1.

A WALK WITH AUGUST

On our first Friday evening, when the sky was still pink from the sunset, I went with August to the bee yard. I hadn’t been to the hives before, so she gave me a lesson in “bee yard etiquette”. She reminded me that the world was really one big bee yard, and the same rules worked fine in both places. Don’t be afraid, no life-loving bee wants to sting you. Still, don’t be an idiot; wear long sleeves and trousers. If you feel anxious, whistle. Anxiety agitates, while whistling melts a bee’s temper. Above all, send the bees love. August had been stung so many times she had immunity. In fact, she said, stings helped her arthritis, but since I didn’t have arthritis, I should cover up. She made me put on one of her long-sleeved white shirts, then placed one of the white helmets on my head and adjusted the netting. Everything appeared softer, nicer.

August kept 48 hives scattered through the woods around the house, and she was allowed to have another 280 on neighbouring farms. Thus, the bees had a rich variety of flowers to choose from and produced honey which was more delicious than ever. Those farmers loved her bees, as they made the watermelons redder and the cucumbers bigger. They would have welcomed her bees for free, but to show her gratitude, August paid every one of them with five gallons of honey.

She was constantly checking on all her hives. I watched her load her red wagon with frames that you put in the hives for the bees to deposit honey on.

“We have to make sure the queen has plenty of room to lay her eggs, or else we’ll get a swarm,” she said.

“What does a swarm mean?”

“Well, if you have a queen and a group of independent-minded bees that split off from the rest of the hive and look for another place to live, then you’ve got a swarm. They usually cluster on a tree branch somewhere.”

It was clear she didn’t like swarms.

“So,” she said, getting down to business, “what we have to do is take out the frames filled with honey and put in empty ones.”

August pulled the wagon while I walked behind it carrying the smoker stuffed with pine straw. August’s assistant beekeeper, Zach, had placed a brick on top of each hive to inform August what to do. If the brick was at the front, it meant the colony had nearly filled the combs and needed another frame. If the brick was at the back, there were problems which had to be dealt with, like wax moths or ailing queens. Turned on its side, the brick announced a happy bee family. August struck a match and lit the straw in the smoker. She waved the bucket, sending smoke into the hive. The smoke, she said, worked better than a sedative. Still, when August removed the lids, the bees poured out flapping their wings around our faces. The air rained bees, and I sent them love, just like August said. She pulled out a frame.

“There she is, Lily,” said August. “That’s the queen, the large one.”

I made a curtsy like people do for the Queen of England, which made August laugh.

adapted from The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd 

6.4. The main goal of the London Pollinator Project is

6.1. In the first paragraph, the narrator 

A. to encourage city dwellers’ fondness for bees.

A. presents the precautions recommended by August. 

B. to estimate the number of bees in the urban environment.

B. questions August’s attitude to bees. 

C. to investigate ways of increasing the bee population in the city.

C. blames arthritis on bee stings. 

D. to create a visual record of different varieties of urban bees

D. offers a few comments on her ignorance of “bee yard etiquette”.

6.5. The smartphone app enables local residents to 

6.2. From the second paragraph, we learn that 

A. enter a bee-related photo competition. 

A. the farmers insisted on some compensation for keeping the beehives on their land.

B. submit reports of bee sightings.

B. a variety of flowers made the bees produce more honey.

C. August used tricks to encourage the bees to move to beehives on farms.

C. receive feedback on new planting schemes in cities. 

D. August’s cooperation with the farmers was mutually beneficial. 

D. get advice on growing plants attractive for bees.

6.3. What was the significance of a brick’s position on a beehive? 

A. It indicated the time when the lid was last removed. 

B. It alerted August to a swarm forming in a beehive

C. It showed which beehives mustn’t be approached. 

D. It signalled what action, if any, ought to be taken.