TPo 45 Writing Task 1

The reading and the lecture are both about if the 200 million years old discovered fossil structures belong to the bees or not. Whereas the author of the reading states that there are some doubtful arguments about the acceptance of the fossils for the bees, the lecturer suggests that these arguments are not convincing. The lecturer casts doubt on the main points of the reading by providing three examples.
First of all, according to the reading, non of the 200-million-year old fossils that have been found, belong to the actual bees. However, the lecturer disputes this point. She says that there should be a sticky liquid form from trees to preserve the bee’s body and the trees with this resin-like liquid were common much later than 200 million years ago. In other words, the bees might have existed at that time but not those kinds of trees. Therefore, there is no preserved body of bees from 200 million years ago.
Secondly, the reading states while there were no flowering plants at about 200 million years ago, so the fossils do not belong to the bees. Nevertheless, the lecturer refutes this argument. She argues that bees could exist before flowering plants. In addition, she points out before flowering plants the bees used to use some non-flowering trees like ferns and pine, and after the revolution in plants and the existence of flowering plants, the bees adapted to these kinds of trees.
Finally, the reading claims that the structures that have been found in Arizona lack some details of a modern bee's nest. On the other hand, the lecturer believes that there is some chemical evidence that contradicts this supposition. She says that the modern bees protect their nests against water by some water-resistant materials. While the fossils contain water-resistant materials like modern bee nests, the structures have been created by bees.