Have you ever noticed strange bumps on stems, leaves, flowers, or tree branches? Well, they are part of the plant and grown by the plant, but they are homes for tiny insects! These bumps are called galls.
Insects form galls. The plant does not decide to grow them. Typically, a female insect lays her eggs on a plant. After the baby insects hatch, special chemicals are left on the plant. These special chemicals cause the plant to bubble up and form a gall. Once a gall has grown, the insects have a safe place to live and eat, or do they?
Other animals, besides insects, benefit from galls. Galls are also great places for birds and small animals to find a meal. Woodpeckers, squirrels, mice, and bats all use galls as a source for a tasty insect snack. If a gall has a large hole poked into it, a larger creature may have stopped for a bite.
Now that you know what a gall is, you will probably begin to notice them everywhere. Look around. You may even decide to break open a gall and take a peek inside. If the gall has a little hole, the owner has probably left. Can you believe it? A little house for an insect made by a plant!
Questions
1) Based on information in paragraph 2, it can be understood that an unhatched insect egg laid on a plant would most likely cause
A. the plant to die
B. no gall to form
C. a large gall
D. a bird to eat the egg
2) Which statement from the passage best describes how galls are formed?
A. “Once a gall has grown, the insects have a safe place to live and eat, or do
they?”
B. “These bumps are called galls.”
C. “These special chemicals cause the plant to bubble up and form a gall.”
D. “Typically, a female insect lays her eggs on a plant.”
3) At the end of paragraph 2, the author asks the question “or do they?” The author does this to
A. explain why insects may not be safe inside their galls
B. ask the reader if the insects are safe inside their galls
C. admit that he or she does not really know the answer
D. encourage us to keep reading to discover the answer
4) Based on its use in paragraph 3, it can be understood that benefit belongs to which of the following word groups?
A. love, adore, like
B. hurt, offend, upset
C. teach, instruct, direct
D. gain, advance, profit
5) If a gall has a large hole in it, this means that
A. a larger creature may have stopped for a bite
B. the owner has probably left
C. special chemicals are left on the plant
D. they are homes for tiny insects
6) This passage is mostly meant to
A. entertain
B. inform
C. persuade
D. describe
7) The information presented in paragraph 3 most likely resulted from the work of which of the following types of scientist?
A. a zoologist, who studies the behavior, structure, and classification of
animals.
B. an ecologist, who studies the relationships of organisms to one another and
to their physical surroundings.
C. an entomologist, who studies the behavior, structure, and classification of
insects.
D. a chemist, who is engaged in chemical research or experiments.