1'42 Integrated Language Skills

Reading Passage 2

Read the passage and answer the questions

Ants have four distinct growing stages-the egg, larva, pupa and the adult. There are about
10,000 known species of ants. They are diligent insects and can lift 20 times their own body
weight. The average life expectancy of an ant is about 45 to 60 days. Did you know that the legs
of the ant are so strong that they enable the ant to run very quickly? In comparison, if a man
could run as fast for his size as an ant can, he could run as fast as a racehorse! 5

ll Ants can easily be identified by their elbowed antennae and a distinctive node-1ike structure
that forms a slender waist. The antennae are used not only for touch, but also for their sense of
sme11. Ants are one of the most common pests and if their numbers are left uncontrolled, they
can cause a lot of frustration in homes, indoor spaces and outdoors by destroying crops and
'tc
other natural resources. Nevertheless, ants are essentially beneficial to the environment.

ll Ants are social insects as they live in colonies or groups. These colonies vary in size, ranging
from a few dozen predatory ants living in small natural cavities to large colonies consisting
of millions of ants occupying large territories. Ants make their homes in mounds of exposed
soil, under stones, logs, debris, as well as in wal1 and floor cracks. The size of each colony
primaril), depends on the type of species. Colonies consist of a series of underground chambers, 15

connected to each other and the surface of the earth by sma1l tunnels. There are even rooms for
nurseries and food storage.

v There are three kinds of ants in every colony-the queen, the sterile females and the males.
Qreens are the largest ants of the colony and the only ants that can layeggs. Once the queen
grows to adulthood, she spends the rest of her life laying eggs and can live up to 21 years, 2c
producing millions of eggs. Depending on the species, a colony may have one queen or many
queens. When the queen of the colony dies, the colony can only survive for a few months.
Qreens are rarely replaced and workers are not able to reproduce. Only the queen and the
males, known as drones, have wings but the queen ant sheds its wings when it starts a new nest.
The male ants' job is to mate with the queen ant, qpically surviving for only a few weeks. 25

The other ants form groups of soldiers, workers or other specialised groups. Soldier ants'
duties include protecting the queen, defending the colony, gathering food and attacking enemy
colonies ln search of food and nesting spaces. When these ants fight, they can fight to the
death. If they defeat another ant colony, they take away the eggs of the defeated colony. When
the eggs hatch, the new ants become the slave ants for the victorious colony. The colony is :r
built and maintained by legions of worker ants which carry tiny bits of dirt in their mandibles
and deposit them near the exit of the colony, forming an anthi1l. Food carried in by workers is
retrieved from the surrounding environment. Other duties carried out by worker ants are taking
care ofthe eggs and babies, storing food which has been gathered for the colony and building
the anthills or mounds. 35
 Reading 143

i,: fhs coloniesare systematic and unified entities, where the stratified layers of the colonv live, eat
and carry out their respective duties and collectively work together to support the stmcture and
establishment of the colony. Ants succeed in thriving in almost any environment largely due to
their social organisation and ability to modif,, habitats, tap resources and defend themselves.
With their distinct division of labour, communication between individuals and ability to solve 'll
complex problems, they have parallels with human societies and therefore, are an interesting
subject ofstudy and research.

1 What do the following words in the passage refer to?

(a) they (line 4)

(b) its (line 24)

(c) these (1ine 28)

(d) which (line 34)

(e) their (line 37)

2 What do the following words or phrases mean as the], are used in the passage?

(a) diligent (line 2)

(b) primarily (line 15)

(c) rarely (line 23)
(d) deposit (1ine 32)

3 Write (T) if the statement is TRUE and (F) if the statement is FALSE
(a) Ants are strong insecrs. ( )

(b) A colony is unable to survive after the queen ant dies because
it takes a long time to replace the queen. )

(c) The chambers and tunnels of the ant colonv are built by
soldier ants. (

(d) We can infer that the male ants have the fewest chores to do. (
144 Integrated Language Skills

4 Complete the flow chart with information from the passage

(n)

Qreen Males Females

the biggest in size

' also known as ' have specific duties
drones such as:
lays cooq
-trtr "
has wings until: ' have wings o soldiers
(b) ' lifespan: (d)
(")

o workers

Reading Passage 3

Read the passage and answer the questions.

Scientists have spent coundbss words and oceans of ink debating the issue of nature versus
nurture in child development. Did you know that your personality and development process
could be due to the order in which you were born, besides the influence of factors such as genes
or environment? Alfred Adler was the first person to propose the idea, claiming that when a
child is born has a deep impact on his or her personality. 5

According to Adler, eldest children are socially dominant and highly intellectual. The eldest
child will probably have more in common with other firstborns than his or her own brothers
and sisters. This is because they have had so much control and attention from their first-time
parents before siblings arrive. Therefore, they have a tendency to be over-responsible, reliable,
well-behaved, careful and are actually smaller versions of their own parents. Statistics suggest t0
that oldest children enjoy on average approximately 3,000 more hours of quality time with their
parents between the ages 4 and L3 than their siblings will get. Unforrunately, the firstborns
are less open to new ideas and are prone to perfectionism. They are also people-pleasing, the
result of losing both parents' attention at an eady age and working throughout their lives to get
it back. lb