Reading Comprehension — Ant Builders and Ant Cows

Read two short passages about ants and answer ten questions.

The Ant Builders

Uncle Paul told the children about ants.

"Ants are hard workers," he said. "They build a town under the ground, with streets, rooms and storerooms. They dig it grain by grain, using their jaws.

"One day an ant found the husk of an oat. It would make a good plank for a wall. But it was much too heavy. The ant pulled and pulled, but the husk hardly moved. Did the ant give up? Oh no! It came back with two helpers. Together they rolled the husk all the way to the hole. When you are an ant, you never give up."

The Ants' Cows

Uncle Paul took the children to the elder bush in the garden. Lots of ants were climbing up and down the trunk.

The ants going up had thin, empty stomachs. They hurried, because they were hungry. The ants coming down had fat, full stomachs. They walked slowly, like someone after a big dinner.

"What are they eating up there?" asked Jules.

"They are milking their cows," said Uncle Paul. He pulled a branch down. Under the leaves were hundreds of tiny black insects, drinking sap from the plant. Sweet drops came out of the back end of their bodies. The ants drink this sweet milk.

Adapted from The Story-book of Science by Jean-Henri Fabre (1917).