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EL COLEGIODE MICHOACN, A.C.

LABORATORIO DEIDIOMAS READING COMPREHENSION EXERCISE LEVEL 3 A NTS

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Leaf-cutting ants An ant colonyThe anatomy of the ant

There are more ants than any other kind of land animal in the world. A million ants can live in a fewtrees, and there may be a quarter of a million in just one colony. The total weight of all the ants inthe world is far greater than that of all the human beings put together. ( Who calculates facts likethese? How? Why? ).

Human beings are extremely interested in the study of ants . The more we study them, the morethey seem to be like ourselves. Our dictionary tells us that the ant is a social insect. That meansthat ants live in societies characterized by interdependence and a division of activities. But this doesnot mean that all ant societies are exactly the same. There are differences because ants come invery many kinds; in fact, there are more than 15,000 different types! But in general, every speciesof ant includes three main types of individuals: queens, males (also called drones) and workers.

The queen has wings for a short period of time, and one day she flies away from her home nestwith a winged male. That male will die soon afterwards, but the queen now without her wings finds a good place to establish her own nest and begins to lay eggs there. Worker ants feed her andprotect the eggs, and also build a home that is as large, comfortable and safe as they can make it.

In ant society, workers have special jobs. Some workers take care of the young , others carry outconstruction and maintenance activities, and still others are soldier ants who do the fighting anddefend the colony. Most of the worker ants spend part of their time, just as we do , making sure thatthere is enough food in the house for all its inhabitants!

Some ants remind us of farmers. Their workers gather seeds and store them underground. Ifconditions are propitious and the seeds begin to grow, then the ants throw them away around theedges of their nest. Later those seeds may become fields of what people call ant rice . In the caseof the leaf-cutting ants (see the image above), they allow fungus to grow in certain parts of their

colonies; while other ants maintain cows. What do you mean by cows ?, you may ask. Well, theykeep larger insects that provide milk for the colony. Ants have a good many enemies , including

birds, bears, and various species of anteaters. Butthere are also well documented cases in whichother ants are the worst enemies, just like mansworst enemy is man! In some parts of the world,red ants will march in large armies to attack thehomes of black ants. First, they send lines ofscouts out to find the colonies of black ants. Whentheir scouts rush back with a report, the red antsform columns and march to the attack.

Meanwhile, the black ants hurry to prepare for theattack by blocking the entrances to their tunnelswith all the stones and mud that their engineersand workers can find. p. 1 of 4

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Then the red ants launch their attack. Usually, some of them succeed in getting inside the tunnelsof the black ants. Their objective is to carry away the black ant babies but, of course, the adult blackants do everything they possibly can to prevent their enemies from taking those captives, so theysend their biggest soldiers into action: ants with very large heads and powerful jaws . The blacksoldiers make a circling movement just like the motorized columns of a modern human army to cut off the columns of red robber ants. As a result, many of the robber ants soldiers and workersare killed, but usually some manage to escape with babies belonging to the black ant colony. Theytake the babies home and bring them up in their own colony . Why do they go to all this trouble and facesuch dangers? The answer is that this species of red ants does not have any workers of its own, sowhen the captive black ant babies grow up they become the only workers in the red ants colony. Infact, they are slaves; another characteristic of human society that ants seem to emulate.

Some ants make life very uncomfortablefor people who go near their colonies; forexample, the more than 280 species of fireants. They are venomous and can sting theirenemies, including man. Maybe you haveseen the 1998 movie Legion of Fire: Killer

Ants , or the 1954 movie with CharltonHeston called The Naked Jungle, about aplantation in South America that is attackedby swarms of army ants. Other ants,however, find human beings very useful.You see, they like the foods we eat and sothey may come right into our houses andgardens to get some of it. Also, hundreds orthousands of them might visit you when youare outside having a picnic. Ants havetraveled long distances completely byaccident by boarding ships in port that thentake them to far-off places. But they seemto feel right at home as the ship sails aroundthe world. In fact, sometimes they have leftthe ships and started colonies in foreignlands. Some ants are also very comfortablein urban surroundings and will make theirhome as close as possible to our homes andkitchens, maybe in a hole in the wall, orunder the ground just outside, or evenunder the kitchen itself!

A giant anthill

Entrance to a typical ant colony

An anteater, note its long snout

A column of army ants on the move

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One question remains to be answered. Studies of ant life tell us that these creatures live in colonies,keep farms, go to war, carry off slaves, and have a society rather like our own. But, are theycapable of thinking? Are they intelligent? Should this old proverb really advise the sluggard (thatmeans, lazy man ) to watch the ant in order to learn how to become wise:

Go to the ant, you sluggard; watch her ways and get wisdom.She has no overseer, no governor or ruler;but in summer she prepares her store of food and lays in her supplies at harvest.

But the worker ants that get food, the soldier ants that attack other colonies, and the ants that take

care of babies probably do not know what they are doing ; they are controlled entirely by instinct.==================================================================== A. Analysis of ideas and relationships . Indicate the best answer.1. Why does the author include the information that The total weight of all the ants is greater

than that of all human beings in paragraph one of the text?a) Because it is a little known fact that he feels is important.b) Because s/he thinks its a good way to capture the readers attention. c) Because the main topic of the text is the volume of ants in the world.

2. According to the text, why are human beings extremely interested in the study of ants ? a) Because ant society seems to have characteristics in common with human society.

b) Because we need to learn how to control these insects.c) Because there are more ants than any other kind of land animal in the world.3. one day she flies away ? What does flies away mea n?

a) The queen goes on a long distance trip.b) The queen leaves her home nest to begin a new colony in another location.c) The queen flies to test her new wings.

4. In the phrase Some workers take care of the young , what does young refer to ?a) eggsb) dronesc) offspring

5. The phrase just as we do suggests that ants a) do things in ways similar to human beings.b) are about to do things.c) are concerned with justice.

6. The phrase gather seeds is a synonym for a) prepare seedsb) collect seedsc) plant seeds

7. The phrase throw them away is closest in meaning to a) get rid of

b) take care ofc) bring up

8. The phrase a good many enemies means a) that ants have no significant enemies.b) that ants have a lot of enemies.c) that ants have only a few enemies.

9. The black ants make a circling movement suggests that those antsa) run around in circles.b) are capable of military-like maneuvers.c) become terribly confused by the red ants attack .

10. They take the babies home and bring them up in their own colony ? What does this refer to?a) They adopt them as their own children.b) They convert them into slaves.c) They raise them to adulthood.

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B. Multiple choice comprehension exercise . Indicate the best answer.

1. In the first sentence, why does the authoremphasize any other kind of land animal ? a) Because the text is only about terrestrial

animals.b) Because some sea or air animals (fish, insects)

might be more numerous.c) For no particular reason.

d) Because it is a surprising fact.2. What is the first characteristic of societies

mentioned in the text?a) interdependenceb) insectsc) social hierarchyd) division of labor

3. The text implies, but does not state, that most ofthe ants in a typical colony are a) queensb) workers

c) malesd) soldiers

4. Which of the following is not mentioned in the textas a similarity between ant and human society?a) sexual division of laborb) taking care of the youngc) farmingd) waging war

5. The text implies that the principal function of thequeen is to a) reproduceb) fly around and establish new coloniesc) govern the colonyd) lead the soldier ants in war

6. The phrase ant rice refers toa) a crop that some ants cultivateb) the principal food source for ant coloniesc) plants that grow up unintentionally around some ant

coloniesd) a food similar to rice that ants collect and carry

back to their nests

7. The text mentions all of the following as enemies ofthe ant, except :a) birdsb) manc) bearsd) other ants

8. What is the principal function of the red scout ants?a) To detect colonies of black ants for attack.b) To find food sources.c) To protect the colony against attacks by other ants.d) To coordinate the ants military maneuvers.

9. The prove rb at the end of the text suggests that a) ants are intelligent, reasoning insectsb) ant colonies have lazy members just like human

societiesc) humans may be able to learn some things by

observing antsd) ant society is more advanced than human society

10. According to the concluding paragraph of the text, theauthor would probably agree that a) we should not exaggerate the similarities between

ant society and human societyb) ant society is less cruel than human societyc) there is no point studying ants because their

behavior is totally controlled by instinctd) ants are stupid because they dont know what they

are doing

C. Circle the best word or phrase to complete these sentences . 1. As many as [ 1,000,000 250,000 500,000 100,000 ] ants may live in one colony.

2. The phrase powerful jaws refers to the ants [ CLAWS STINGER ANTENNAE MANDIBLES ].

3. Worker ants can be many things, but they cant be [ BUILDERS FATHERS SLAVES ENGINEERS ].

4. Red ants attack black ants to [ STEAL FOOD KILL THEM CAPTURE BABIES OCCUPY THEIR TUNNELS ].

5. They feel right at home suggests that ants are [ ADAPTABLE SENSITIVE AGGRESSIVE LAZY ].

6. When red ants attack, black ants [ HIDE ESCAPE COUNTERATTACK SEND ALARMS ].

7. After a male fertilizes the queens eggs he [ FLIES AWAY RETURNS HOME DIES GOES TO WORK ].

8. The text says that, among other places, ants can live in [ WALLS PICNICS MUD COLUMNS ].

9. Fire ants are dangerous because they are [ INTELLIGENT POWERFUL NUMEROUS POISONOUS ].

10. The authors attitude to ants can best be described as [ FEARFUL NEUTRAL ADMIRING MORBID ].

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