Research conducted by Professor Lars Chittka,a scientist from Queen Mary’s School of Biological and Chemical Sciences,has found that bees prefer Van Gogh’s’unflowers to other, non-floral(不是花的)paintings. Working with artist Julian Walker,Chittka presented three colonies of bumblebees with four different paintings highly appreciated in Western society,and found that Van Gogh’s Sunflowers~their favorite.
A bumblebee nest box was connected to a flight arena,and each colony was shown reproductions of four paintings-two that contained flowers(Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Paul Gauguin’s A Vase of Flowers)and two that didn’t(Patrick Caulfield’s Pottery and Fernand Uger’s Still Life with Beer Mug).
The team recorded the number of approach flights and actual landings the bees made on each of the paintings,over four minute periods. The bees had never seen natural flowers before or during the experiments,but when confronted with paintings containing flowers,the majority of landings were recorded on a flower. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers attracted most approach flights and landings over the observation period,with the number of approach flights that terminated in landing higher in the paintings with flowers(11 per cent)than those without(4 per cent).
“The results show .that the flower paintings have captured the essence of floral features from a bee’s point of view,and that these features are recognized by bees that have never been exposed to flowers before,” said Chittka in the journal Optics and Laser Technology. “Flowers contain all the goods that a bee needs to thrive-pollen and nectar--and selection has therefore favoured bees with ‘aesthetic preferences’ for those flowers which offer the best luck.”Indeed,when given a choice between a variety of colors,bees prefer‘bee blue’-a colour which is associated with high-nectar flowers in nature. When faced with paintings,bees were also strongly drawn to blue objects,for example the blue‘Vincent’signature in Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.
1.Bees prefer Van Gogh’s paintings because_.
A.Van Gogh’s paintings smell sweet
B.bees have a good taste for art
C.the paintings contain flowers that bees like
D.bees only appreciate classic paintings
2.Which of the following about the experiment is NOT correct?
A.The team recorded observation in every four minutes.
B.The bees had never seen natural flowers before the experiments.
C.The bees were confronted with real flowers during the experiments.
D.The majority of landings were recorded on Van Gogh’s painting.
3.We can see from the experiment result that
A.bees can appreciate paintings if they have never seen natural flowers before
B.pollen and nectar are essential for bees to thrive
C.Van Gogh’s paintings can attract more bees because of good luck
D.Van Gogh’s paintings contain important information of flowers that bees can recognize
4.Of the following colours,bees probably most like_.
A. green
B. red
C. white
D. blue
5.The best title for the passage should be_
A.“Art-loving” Bees Prefer Van Gogh’s Sunflowers
B.Bees Love Flowers
C.An Exciting Experiment on Bees
D.Vincent Van Gogh’s Paintings
参考答案:1.C. 2.C. 3.D. 4.D. 5.A.
责任编辑:小草