I have a question about a practice listening test!! Why is the correct answer B? I chose D.

Question

Transcript of listening

 

Now, um, one problem with von Frisch's theory had been this: It seems to take the forager bees a long time to reach the food site. That's why ... [false start] That's why scientists thought that perhaps it wasn't the waggle dance that led them there. For many years, scientists couldn't follow the foragers after they left the hive,. because they didn't have the technology. Just a few years ago, though, the British scientists solved this problem using a new type of radar. They were able to attach a, uh, small radio transmitter to forager bees -- I don't know how, but they did. This enabled them to follow the forager bees' flight after they left the hive. The radar showed that foragers, do, in fact, fly straight to the area of the food site. They don't follow the scout bee back to the site, because the scout goes into the hive after it finishes dancing. Well then, if the waggle dance does lead the foragers directly to the food site, why does it take so long for them to find the actual food? The answer is that the waggle dance leads the foragers only to the general area of the food. It doesn't tell them the exact location of the flowers or plants that have the food. So the foragers have to spend a while flying around the area before they find the exact location of what they're looking for.

 

5). What does the professor imply when he says this: I don't know how, but they did.

 

A. The scientists should have been more careful.

 

B. It is difficult to put transmitters on bees

 

C. It is not a good idea to use radar with bees.

 

D. He does not know how transmitters work.

 

http://englishtest.mobi/ET/TOEFL/TOEFL_1_lecture_excerpt1.mp3

Answer 1

Saori,

 

   The professor is explaining the study of foraging in bees by tracking their path through radar technology. For this scientists had to attach a tiny radio transmitter to individual bees.

 

 The professor does not criticize scientists or actions as mentioned in A and therefore, A is not correct.

 

He does not know the method that scientists used to attach transmitter to bees, he is unable to imagine it. However he knows that they did it  and therefore, interpretation is that it is a difficult task. B states that.

 

There is no comment  about use or misuse of radar technology to  study bees and therefore, C is incorrect since that is what included in it.

 

The professor does know that scientist tracked the bees through transmitters and he was trying to explain this therefore,  D is incorrect to say that he does not know how radars work.

 

Only B explains the professor's statement accurately and therefore, it is correct.

 

Hope it helps.