Learning English

US wild bee numbers decline as land is converted for biofuel

Wild bees in the US have declined in many farming areas according to the first national effort to map their numbers. The study suggests that between 2008 and 2013, the numbers of wild bees went down across almost a quarter of the US.

Language challenge

A bee buzzes - but what sound does a cricket make?

ویدیو را تماشا کنید و تمرین را کامل کنید

The story

A new study suggests that the number of wild bees in the United States has declined in many farming areas because of a boom in biofuels.

The report says that over five years up to 2013, the abundance of wild bees fell across almost a quarter of the US as land was converted to grow corn for ethanol.

Prof Taylor Ricketts - one of the authors of the study

Farmers are growing more corn and they're turning semi-natural habitats or places where bees could have nested and found flowers back into corn. And that has been shown to reduce bee populations.

Key words and phrases

abundant/an abundance of
A large amount of; more than enough

decline/on the decline
a reduction in the amount of something

dwindle
get smaller over time

To do

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Language challenge - answer

A cricket 'chirps' or 'chirrups'.

More

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