Original passage
For decades, ecologists assumed that cities were hostile to wild bees: pavement replaces flowering meadows, and pesticides are sprayed in parks and gardens. Recent surveys in several European cities, however, have recorded more species of wild bees in urban gardens than in the intensively farmed land around those cities, and some researchers now describe cities as refuges for pollinators.
Others urge caution. The surveys counted species, not individuals, and a garden visited by many species may still support only small populations of each. Moreover, most surveys were conducted in summer, when gardens are in bloom; whether urban bees find enough food in early spring, when few ornamental plants flower, remains largely unstudied.
The primary purpose of the passage is to
- A argue that cities are more hospitable to wild bees than any rural area
- B present a finding about urban bees and point out limits on what it shows Bonne réponse
- C explain why pesticides used in parks are harmful to pollinators
- D describe a method for counting bee populations in gardens
- E recommend planting flowers that bloom in early spring