CET-6 Listening Long Conversation: A Radio Interview with a City Beekeeper

Conversation One.

Today I'm talking to Tom Fisher, who keeps bees on the roofs of office buildings.

Tom, bees in the middle of the city? Isn't that strange?

Everyone says that! But city bees often do better than country bees.

In the countryside, many farms grow just one crop.

But cities are full of parks, gardens and trees on every street.

So the bees find different flowers from spring to autumn.

So the honey changes with the seasons?

Absolutely! Spring honey is light, and autumn honey is dark and strong.

The office workers buy almost every jar we make.

How did you start? You were a teacher, weren't you?

Yes, I taught biology for thirty years.

When I retired, a former student asked me to help with a hive at her company.

One hive became two, and now I look after twenty-five!

Should more people keep bees, then?

Actually, no. That surprises people.

In some cities, there are now so many hives that honeybees compete with wild bees for food.

If you want to help, plant flowers instead. Everyone can do that.

Questions one to four are based on the conversation you have just heard.

Question one. Why do city bees often do better than country bees?

Question two. What does the man say about the honey?

Question three. How did the man start keeping bees?

Question four. What does the man advise people who want to help bees?

Tom Fisher, thank you. I'll never look at a rooftop the same way again!

My pleasure. And don't forget those flowers!