科学美国人60秒：蜜蜂会做加减法

燕山大学 刘立军 编写

【TRANSCRIPT】

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Annie Sneed.

It takes a big brain—a human brain—to do math. Or so you might assume. But scientists have found that other animals, such as chimpanzees, monkeys, and even pigeons can perform some addition and subtraction. Now new research shows that honeybees—with brains the size of sesame seeds—can perform basic math.

Researchers put honeybees through 100 trials to train them to add and subtract. They put the bees in a Y-shaped maze and presented them with a certain number of either yellow or blue shapes. Yellow indicated the bee should subtract, while blue meant they should add.

The bee then entered the "decision chamber," where it was presented with a correct answer on one side and an incorrect answer on the other side. If they picked the right answer they were rewarded with a sugary solution. If not, they got bitter tonic water. The researchers also put the bees through another test trial without a reward or punishment to make sure there weren't any scent marks influencing the bees' choices.

At first the bees picked answers at random. "You see that the ability of the bees to do it starts at about chance level, 50%, showing us the bees are just choosing randomly. But over time, competence comes up to about 80%, so they actually start to perform quite well."

Scarlett Howard, one of the study authors and a postdoctoral research fellow in neurobiology and cognition at Paul Sabatier University in France. She says the bees were even able to add and subtract correctly when presented with a number they had never seen before. The study is in the journal Science Advances.

"Things like this let us know there's a lot of complexity there and their brains might not be as simplistic as we once thought."

Thanks for listening for Scientific American—60-Second Science. I'm Annie Sneed.

Adapted from https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/honeybees-can-put-two-and-two-together/

【VOCABULARY】

1. chimpanzee n. a small intelligent African ape (= an animal like a large monkey without a tail) 黑猩猩

2. sesame n.（不可数名词）a tropical plant grown for its seeds and their oil that are used in cooking 芝麻。例如：sesame seeds 芝麻粒儿

3. maze n. a system of paths separated by walls or hedges built in a park or garden, that is designed so that it is difficult to find your way through 迷宫。例如：We got lost in the maze. 我们在迷宫里迷失了方向。

4. tonic n. (also tonic water)（不可数名词，可数名词）a clear fizzy drink (= with bubbles in it) with a slightly bitter taste, that is often mixed with a strong alcoholic drink, especially gin or vodka 奎宁水，汤力水（一种味微苦、常加于烈性酒中的有气饮料）。例如：a gin and tonic 一杯杜松子酒奎宁水

5. neurobiology n. 神经生物学

【QUESTIONS】

Read the passage. Then listen to the news and fill in the blanks with the information (words, phrases or sentences) you hear.

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Annie Sneed.

It takes a big brain—a human brain—to do math. Or so you might assume. But scientists have found that other animals, such as chimpanzees, monkeys, and even pigeons can perform some (Q1) ____________________. Now new research shows that honeybees—with brains the size of sesame seeds—can perform (Q2) ________________________.

Researchers put honeybees through 100 trials to train them to add and subtract. They put the bees in a Y-shaped maze and presented them with a certain number of either (Q3) _______________________ shapes. Yellow indicated the bee should (Q4) __________________, while blue meant they should (Q5) ________________.

The bee then entered the "decision chamber," where it was presented with a correct answer on one side and an incorrect answer on the other side. If they picked the right answer they were rewarded with a (Q6) _______________ solution. If not, they got bitter tonic water. The researchers also put the bees through another test trial without a reward or punishment to make sure there weren't any scent marks influencing the bees' choices.

At first the bees picked answers (Q7) ___________________. "You see that the ability of the bees to do it starts at about chance level, 50%, showing us the bees are just choosing randomly. But over time, competence comes up to about 80%, so they actually start to perform quite well."

Scarlett Howard, one of the study authors and a (Q8) ___________________ research fellow in neurobiology and cognition at Paul Sabatier University in France. She says the bees were even able to add and subtract correctly when presented with a number they had never seen before. The study is in the journal Science Advances.

"Things like this let us know there's a lot of (Q9) ____________________ there and their brains might not be as (Q10) ________________ as we once thought."

Thanks for listening for Scientific American - 60-Second Science. I'm Annie Sneed.

【KEY】

Read the passage. Then listen to the news and fill in the blanks with the information (words, phrases or sentences) you hear.

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Annie Sneed.

It takes a big brain—a human brain—to do math. Or so you might assume. But scientists have found that other animals, such as chimpanzees, monkeys, and even pigeons can perform some (Q1) addition and subtraction. Now new research shows that honeybees—with brains the size of sesame seeds—can perform (Q2) basic math.

Researchers put honeybees through 100 trials to train them to add and subtract. They put the bees in a Y-shaped maze and presented them with a certain number of either (Q3) yellow or blue shapes. Yellow indicated the bee should (Q4) subtract, while blue meant they should (Q5) add.

The bee then entered the "decision chamber," where it was presented with a correct answer on one side and an incorrect answer on the other side. If they picked the right answer they were rewarded with a (Q6) sugary solution. If not, they got bitter tonic water. The researchers also put the bees through another test trial without a reward or punishment to make sure there weren't any scent marks influencing the bees' choices.

At first the bees picked answers (Q7) at random. "You see that the ability of the bees to do it starts at about chance level, 50%, showing us the bees are just choosing randomly. But over time, competence comes up to about 80%, so they actually start to perform quite well."

Scarlett Howard, one of the study authors and a (Q8) postdoctoral research fellow in neurobiology and cognition at Paul Sabatier University in France. She says the bees were even able to add and subtract correctly when presented with a number they had never seen before. The study is in the journal Science Advances.

"Things like this let us know there's a lot of (Q9) complexity there and their brains might not be as (Q10) simplistic as we once thought."

Thanks for listening for Scientific American—60-Second Science. I'm Annie Sneed.