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Edward O. Wilson’s Ants - Careful of where he steps, carrying tweezers (September 2023 - G01)
PASSAGE II
Edward O. Wilson’s Ants
Careful of where he steps, carrying tweezers, vials notebooks and pencils, Edward O. Wilson has looked over, under, and into the world of ants. He has discoveredthat the influence of ants’ behavior on their success as a species is as great as their number is vast. By thinking about and contemplatingants, which are among the planet’s smaller creatures, Wilson has arrived at significant conclusions about their social organization and survival.
[1] Wilson studies patterns of organization andbehavior in whole ant colonies. [2] Because antsresume normal behavior quickly, ant colonies are easy to maintain and study in a laboratory. [3] Byobserving ants in a few colonies in the field and in the lab, Wilson can describe an entire species.
[4] He designs his studies with two questions in the notebooks of his mind.[5] First, how do colonymembers differentiate and divide labor? [6] And second, why hassome combinations of these divisions of labor more successful than others? [7] Wilson has found that worker ants are at the center of a coloniessuccess. [8] They integrate the colony and provide labor specialization. [9] Some worker ants dedicate their lives to feeding the colony,foraging for and retrieving fifteen to twenty times their weight in food daily. [10] Additionally, some foraging ants work in pairs. [11] In another example of individual sacrifice for colony welfare, worker ants that specialize as guards devotingtheir lives to the protection of the colony’s territorial boundaries.
Wilson identifiesthis selfless behavior among worker ants as altruism. Dedication to the benefit of the colony is, in his viewthe single most important feature of antsocial behavior. In his observations, Wilson has seen ants alter colony populations by adjusting their foraging and feeding patterns, exemplifying their zeal to survive. Ant societies can be fragmented anddivided, Wilson has discovered, but their devotion to their queen and colony ensures that ants are cool.
Questions from the Passage II
16) F. NO CHANGE G. vials, notebooks and pencils H. vials, notebooks, and pencils, J. vials, notebooks, and pencils
17) A. NO CHANGE B. will have discovered C. had discovered D. discovers
18) F. NO CHANGE G. thinking H. studying J. study about.
19) If the writer were to delete the phrase “in whole antcolonies” from the preceding sentence, it would pri-marily lose:
A. an interesting illustration.
B. redundant information.
C. unnecessary overstatement.
D. a defining detail.
20) F. NO CHANGE G. mind. H. his processing unit. J. his consciousness.
21) A. NO CHANGE B. do C. have D. are
22) F. NO CHANGE G. colony’s H. colonys J. colonies
23) The writer is considering adding the following to theend of the preceding sentence (placing a comma afterthe word daily):usually bits of human food debris. Should the writer make this addition here?
A. Yes, because it adds an important detail that helpsanswer Wilson’s questions.
B. Yes, because it shows how hard ants are able towork.
C. No, because it distracts from the focus on the spe-cialization of the ant population.
D. No, because it does not provide a measure of howmuch debris equals the weight of one ant.
24) Given that all the choices are true, which one indicatesmost specifically a contribution made to the colony byworker ants?
F. NO CHANGE
G. a majority of worker ants do not reproduce, offer-ing their eggs to feed larvae and the queen.
H. when they are out of the nest, ants find each otherby following lingering vapor trails.
J. every day a mature ant colony uses as much vege-tation as a mature cow.
25) A. NO CHANGE B .devote C. devoted D. were devoting
26) If the writer were to divide this paragraph into two—one about what Wilson is looking for and anotherabout his findings—where should the new paragraphbegin?
F. Sentence 4
G. Sentence 5
H. Sentence 7
J. Sentence 8
27) Which of the following alternatives to the underlinedportion would NOT be acceptable?
A. labels B. says C. speaks of D. describes
28) F. NO CHANGE G. is, in his view, H.is in his view, J.is in, his view
29) A. NO CHANGE B. otherwise, C. in contrast, D. for the purposes of his study,
30) Which choice would best conclude this sentence sothat it emphasizes one of the essay’s main points aboutWilson’s investigations of ants?
F. NO CHANGE
G. some ants become workers and some become queens.
H. without a doubt, ants are everywhere.
J. ants will prevail.
Solution
Correct answer: ANSWER KEY:
16 - H
17 - A
18 - H
19 - D
20 - G
21 - D
22 - G
23 - C
24 - G
25 - B
26 - H
27 - B
28 - G
29 - A
30 - J
- The main author of the text is Edward O. Wilson, who studies ants ([1]).
- He analyzes how ants organize themselves and how this contributes to the success of the colony ([1]).
- Wilson observes ants in the laboratory and in the field in order to understand the entire species ([3]).
- Two questions guide his studies: how ants divide up their work and why some divisions are more successful ([5, 6]).
- Workers are fundamental to the colony, as they carry out specialized tasks ([7]).
- Some workers are dedicated to foraging, carrying up to 20 times their weight daily ([9]).
- Others act as guards, protecting the colony ([11]).
- This altruistic behavior, according to Wilson, is the most important characteristic of ants ([12]).
- Ants adjust their actions to ensure the survival of the colony ([13]).
- The text also mentions that anthills can fragment, but dedication to the queen and the colony ensures that these insects stick together ([14]).
Exam Edition: September 2023 - G01
Exam Year: 2023
Related topics: Grammar and Textual Comprehension, English Test