AccelePrep for the ACT Test 2nd Edition Student Text

C HAPTER 8 | H YPER P REP R EADING • 149

one of the control colonies was lost, apparently to an infestation of Nosema ceranae , a common intestinal parasite. Exposure to imidacloprid and clothianidin affected the winterization of healthy colonies and subsequently led to CCD. This observation suggests that the impairment of honey bee neurological ˆ—…–‹‘•Ȅ•’‡…‹ϐ‹…ƒŽŽ› ‡‘”›ǡ…‘‰‹–‹‘ǡ ‘” behavior—is the result of chronic sub-lethal neonicotinoid exposure. Passage B Honey bees, which are a critical link in US agriculture, have been under serious pressure from a mystery problem: Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Following the collapse of the colony, a live queen remains with honey in the hive and immature bees are still present, but no adult bees are left, only dead bee bodies. CCD is only one of several major dangers threatening honey bees, but the syndrome captured the imaginations of certain elements of the press following the announcement that a connection had been made between CCD and pesticides. The Boston Globe , The New Yorker , Motherjones , The Guardian , Salon and others ran stories citing the research conducted by Dr. Chensheng Lu under the auspices of the Harvard School of Public Health, in which neonicotinoids are blamed for CCD. As one writer put it, neonicotinoids were the “smoking gun” that killed the bees. A more careful examination of Lu’s research shows that there was a rush to judgment. In the ϐ‹”•– ’Žƒ…‡ǡ ”Ǥ — Š‹•‡Žˆ ‹• ‘– ƒ ‡š’‡”– ‘

insects—much less bees—and many reputable journals in the United States declined to publish his ϐ‹†‹‰•Ǥ Š‡ ’ƒ’‡” ™ƒ• ϐ‹ƒŽŽ› ’”‹–‡† ‹ ƒ ‘„•…—”‡ Italian journal called the Bulletin of Insectology, a publication of little importance. There are many more expert researchers who have reached far more conservative conclusions who might have been cited, but the press was excited by the dramatic story line that evil manufacturers were killing innocent bees ™‹–Š ƒ•–›…Š‡‹…ƒŽ• ˆ‘” –Š‡‹” ‘™ ’”‘ϐ‹–•ǡ ƒ† ƒ –Š‹ •…‹‡–‹ϐ‹…˜‡‡‡” –Šƒ– †”‡••‡† —’ –Š‡ •‹’Ž‹•–‹…•–‘”› line made it perfect for public consumption. One of the central problems with Lu’s conclusion— and much of the reporting—is that despite the colony problems, the global bee population has remained remarkably stable since the widespread adoption of neonicotinoids in the late 1990s. The United Nations reports that the number of hives has actually risen over the past 15 years to more than 80 million colonies, a record, as neonicotinoids usage has soared. Then, a closer examination of Lu’s methodology •Š‘™• •–”‹‹‰ ϐŽƒ™• ‹ –Š‡ ‡š’‡”‹‡–ƒŽ •‡–—’Ǥ Bees are ordinarily fed a supplemental diet of high fructose corn syrup, and Lu spiked their diet with either imidacloprid or clothianidin in hopes of ‹‹…‹‰ ϐ‹‡Ž†…‘†‹–‹‘•Ǥ  ”‡ƒŽ‹–›ǡ — ˆ‡† Š‹• bees concentrations of chemicals that were 135 parts per billion compared with concentrations found in ordinary applications of 1 to 3 parts per billion. Given the strength of this toxic cocktail, it is a wonder that Lu’s bees survived as long as they did. What Lu proved was only something we have ‘™ ƒŽŽ ƒŽ‘‰ǣ ›‘—…ƒ ‹ŽŽ „‡‡• —•‹‰ ƒ •—ˆϐ‹…‹‡–Ž› powerful poison.

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