奇速英语

微小身躯，巨大贡献（完形填空）

Bees are small insects with over 20, 000 different kinds in the world. You may know the honeybee and the bumblebee, but there are many more. They can be very small, about 2 mm, or quite ___1___, up to 4 cm.

Bees get all their food from flowers, eating pollen (花粉) and nectar (花蜜) which they turn into honey for storage. This relationship is mutually (相互地) ___2___: as bees fly from flower to flower collecting pollen, they carry pollen from one plant to another in a process called pollination, ___3___ is very important for plants to grow new seeds. While most bees collect pollen from many different flowers, some only visit certain types or colors of flowers, ___4___ mouth and body structures just right for collecting pollen from these specific ___5___.

In the bee world, female bees do most of the work. They make nests, find food, and ___6___ the young. Male bees do not collect pollen and usually live for a short time.

Most bees are solitary, ___7___ they live alone. Each female solitary bee makes her own nest, usually a hole in the ground or in wood, ___8___ food inside for her young, and has a short adult life of sometimes only a few weeks. ___9___, social bees, like honeybees and bumblebees, live together in large groups where they keep ___10___ their young. Both solitary and social bees are very important for our world.