The Lives of Social Insects

According to the text, what do termites, ants, and honeybees have in common?

• They are all social insects.

• They are all antisocial insects.

• They are all worker insects.

• They are all soldier insects.

To organize this text, the author divides it into sections with subheadings. What does the author describe in the section with the subheading "How do some insects work together?"

• what social insects are

• an ant colony's underground nest

• all of the chores that worker bees do

• the job of soldier termites

Read these sentences from the text.

"Ants often live in underground nests. The nests have thousands of rooms connected by tunnels. Millions of ants may live together in a nest."

"Termites build tall nests in wood or soil. A nest can be up to 40 feet high. Millions of termites may live in one nest."Based on this information, how are ants and termites different?"

• Ants live underground, whereas termites live above ground.

• Ants live in nests, whereas termites live in hives.

• Ants only have one queen, whereas termites can have more than one queen.

• Ants have soldier ants that protect the colony, whereas termites do not.

Based on the information in the text, how are worker ants and worker bees similar?

• Worker ants and worker bees both care for the other insects in their colonies.

• Worker ants and worker bees both lay eggs for their colonies.

• Worker ants and worker bees both build homes for their colonies.

• Worker ants and worker bees both make food for their colonies.

What is a main idea of this text?

• Soldier termites protect the colony.

• Social insects always have at least one queen.

• Social insects live and work together in colonies.

• Ants often live in underground nests.

Read this sentence from the text.

"How do some insects work together?"

Why might the author have begun the text with this question?

• to introduce a key question that the text will answer

• to signal an argument that the text will be making

• to persuade readers to answer the question

• to show the author's confusion about how insects work together

Choose the answer that best completes the sentence.

An ant nest can contain more than one queen, __________ a beehive only contains one queen.

• like

• if

• but

• then