20090817 -- The Life of Bees (2)

The Life of Bees

When speaking of how people are dependent on bees for survival, we aren't talking about honey or beeswax. Apirists, people who raise bees, keep them for more than just their honey. They contract their bees out to farmers to pollinate their crops. In fact, without bees, we would not be able to eat many fruits and vegetables, including almonds, onions, melons and pumpskins. How do bees pollinate plants? They frequent flowers to collect nectar and pollen to use as food.

As bees travel from flower to flower picking up new pollen, they drop off some of the pollen they've already collect. Plants then use this pollen to reproduce. Both bees and flowers benefit from this process, and so do we. In the United States, bees pollinate 15 to 30 percent of the food people eat.

So the next time you see a bee buzzing around, remember that it's doing more than just making life a little sweeter.


depend v. 依靠
dependent adj. 依靠的/依賴的
be dependent on something
eg: The young child is still dependent on his mother for all of his daily needs.
eg: Georgia is really dependent on her parents.
eg: The future of the company is dependent on the success of this new product.

pollination n. 授粉
pollinate v. 授粉
eg: Butterflies and moths help pollinate the flowers in his field.
eg: Birds and butterflies pollinate plants by carrying pollen among flowers.
eg: Many insects are necessary for pollination.

pollen n. 花粉
eg: Bill sneezes whenever he comes in contact with dust or pollen.
eg: Larry is allergic to pollen and dust.

drop off 放下/留下/落下
eg: The mailman stopped to dropped off some mail for the shop owner.
eg: Can you drop me off at the bus stop on your way home.
eg: We dropped our luggage off at the hotel and went sight-seeing.


//== Chat room ==//

apirist
= beekeeper 養蜂人
zookeeper 動物園管理員
shopkeeper 商店老闆
innkeeper 小旅館老闆

housekeeper女管家
=> someone is employed to do clean task. Keep the inside of the building clean

groundkeeper 運動場或是花園的管理員
=> take care of ground, groundkeeper may work at park or any places
that include lots of outside area
=> keep the outside area

bookkeeper 主計
=> a person at a company or a business who keeps record of the money that has been spent and received

goalkeeper 足球/區棍球守門員
=> a player prevents the ball from going into the goal

peacekeeper 交戰國的停火執行小組
=> someone who promotes peace
=> a member of military force, someone is protecting people from danger or keeping them in peace
eg: UN peacekeeper 聯合國和平部隊

//== Grammer on the go ==//

So the next time you see a bee buzzing around, remember that it's
doing more than just making life a little sweeter.

doing more than just Ving
=> show a situation or a person action is not as simple as others may think
=> just is for emphasis

eg: The assistant is doing more than just making coffee.
eg: Being a fashion model is more than just standing in front of a camera and looking pretty.