We have been brought up to fear insects. We regard them as unnecessary creatures that do more harm than good. Man continuously wages war on them, for they
contaminate his food, carry diseases or devour his crops. They sting or bite without
provocation, they fly uninvited into our rooms on summer nights, or beat against our
lighted windows. We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps,
but of quite harmless ones like moths. Reading about them increases our understanding
without dispelling our fears. Knowing that the industrious ants live in a highly organized
society does not prevent us from being filled with revulsion when we find hordes of them
crawling over a carefully prepared picnic lunch.
No matter how much we like honey, or how much we have read of the uncanny sense of
direction which bees possess, we have a horror of being stung. Most of our fears are
unreasonable, but they are difficult to erase. At the same time, however, insects are
strangely fascinating. We enjoy reading about them, especially when we find that like
the Praying Mantis, they lead perfectly horrible lives. We enjoy staring at them, entrance
as they go about their business, unaware -we hope – of our presence. Who has not stood
in awe at the sight of a spider pouncing on a fly, or a column of ants triumphantly
carrying home an enormous dead beetle?
Last summer, I spent many days in the garden watching thousands of ants crawling up
the trunk of my prized peach tree. The tree has grown against a warm wall on a sheltered side of the house. I am especially proud of it, not only because it has survived several
severe winters, but because it occasionally produces luscious peaches.
During the summer I noticed that the leaves of the tree had begun to wither. Clusters of
tiny insects called Aphids were to be found on the underside of the leaves. They were
visited by a large column of ants which obtained a sort of honey from them. I
immediately embarked on an experiment which, even though it failed to get rid of the
ants, kept me fascinated for twenty four hours. I bound the base of the tree with sticky
tape, making it impossible for the ants to reach the Aphids. The tape was so sticky that
they did not dare to cross it. For a long time, I watched them scurrying around the base
of the tree in bewilderment. I even went out at midnight with a torch and noted with
satisfaction and surprise that the ants were still swarming around the sticky tape without
being able to do anything about it. I got up early next morning to find the ants were
climbing up the wall of the house and then on to the leaves of the tree. I realized sadly
that I had been completely defeated by their ingenuity. The ants had been quick to find
an answer to my thoroughly unscientific methods.1. Answer the following questions:
a) What is our attitude towards insects?
b) What did the writer do to prevent the ants from reaching the Aphids? Was it successful?
c) What was the reason that the leaves of the tree were beginning to wither in summer?
d) Describe in your own words the behaviour that we show towards insects?
e) Give an apt title to your summary and justify the choice of the title.
2. Find words in the passage which mean the following:
a) Action that makes someone angry
b) To attract interest of someone
c) The quality of being clever and inventive
3. Find out antonyms for the following words in the passage:
a) Thrive b) lose
4. The ants were climbing up the wall of the house. (Identify the verb and its tense)
5. Frame sentences of your own:
a) provoke b) fascinate c) scurry