Single correct option
The passage below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures its essence.
Urban beekeeping has spread through cities that once seemed inhospitable to bees, with rooftop hives now common in dense commercial districts. Advocates point to increased pollination of street trees and community gardens, and to the educational value of exposing city residents to an ecosystem they rarely encounter directly. Critics counter that most urban green space cannot support the number of hives being installed, so that domesticated honeybees end up competing with, and sometimes displacing, the wild native bee species a healthy urban ecosystem actually depends on.
Urban beekeeping has spread through cities that once seemed inhospitable to bees, with rooftop hives now common in dense commercial districts. Advocates point to increased pollination of street trees and community gardens, and to the educational value of exposing city residents to an ecosystem they rarely encounter directly. Critics counter that most urban green space cannot support the number of hives being installed, so that domesticated honeybees end up competing with, and sometimes displacing, the wild native bee species a healthy urban ecosystem actually depends on.
- A. Urban beekeeping is unambiguously beneficial because it increases pollination and educates city residents about ecosystems.
- B. While urban beekeeping offers pollination and educational benefits, critics argue that excessive hive density may cause honeybees to outcompete wild native bees that urban ecosystems need.
- C. Cities should ban rooftop beehives because they compete with native bee species for scarce green space.
- D. Wild native bees are more important to urban ecosystems than honeybees are, according to most beekeeping advocates.
Show answer and solution
Answer: (B) While urban beekeeping offers pollination and educational benefits, critics argue that excessive hive density may cause honeybees to outcompete wild native bees that urban ecosystems need.
The passage presents both a case for urban beekeeping (pollination, education) and a countervailing critique (hive density exceeding what green space supports, displacement of native bees). Only option 2 captures both sides in proportion. Option 1 ignores the critique; option 3 recommends a policy the passage never proposes; option 4 misattributes the critics' view to 'most beekeeping advocates.'
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