SAT OwlQuestion bank / Central Ideas and Details
Many people assume that honeybees find flowers mainly by sight. But entomologist Clara Wendt has found that scent plays a larger role than color for some bee colonies. In her trials, bees trained to visit a blue dish scented with lavender kept visiting lavender-scented dishes even after the dishes were painted yellow. When the scent was removed from blue dishes, however, visits dropped sharply. Wendt suggests that for these colonies, odor is the more reliable guide to food.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
Wendt's trials suggest that scent can matter more than color in guiding some bees to food.
Honeybees cannot tell the difference between blue and yellow objects.
Lavender is the scent that honeybees prefer above all others.
Bees that are trained to visit dishes quickly forget their training.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
The text opens with a common assumption (bees find flowers by sight) and then presents Wendt's trials as a challenge to it. Bees followed the lavender scent even when the color changed, and they stopped visiting when the scent was removed. Wendt concludes that odor is the more reliable guide for these colonies. Choice A captures that central point.
Choice B goes too far: the trials show bees relied on scent over color, not that they could not see the difference between colors.
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