full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Barbara Thorne: Coneheads, egg stacks and anteater attacks The reign of a termite queen

Unscramble the Blue Letters


As the colony matures, some of the yonug develop into reproductives. Most fly off to establish new colonies— one lands on a fallen tree, another scrambles into a crack in a house, and another climbs into a shpiinpg crate. But some will simply saunter to sites nearby and become the monarchs of the colony’s satellite ntess.

With one of the longest insect lifespans, a termite queen’s rgien can last more than 20 years. The onragiil queens and kings eventually die, but by the time they go, several setlaltie nests are already thriving. Their reproductive offspring inherit the throne, meaning that their colony may persist for dcadees to come.

Open Cloze


As the colony matures, some of the _____ develop into reproductives. Most fly off to establish new colonies— one lands on a fallen tree, another scrambles into a crack in a house, and another climbs into a ________ crate. But some will simply saunter to sites nearby and become the monarchs of the colony’s satellite _____.

With one of the longest insect lifespans, a termite queen’s _____ can last more than 20 years. The ________ queens and kings eventually die, but by the time they go, several _________ nests are already thriving. Their reproductive offspring inherit the throne, meaning that their colony may persist for _______ to come.

Solution


  1. original
  2. nests
  3. shipping
  4. reign
  5. young
  6. decades
  7. satellite

Original Text


As the colony matures, some of the young develop into reproductives. Most fly off to establish new colonies— one lands on a fallen tree, another scrambles into a crack in a house, and another climbs into a shipping crate. But some will simply saunter to sites nearby and become the monarchs of the colony’s satellite nests.

With one of the longest insect lifespans, a termite queen’s reign can last more than 20 years. The original queens and kings eventually die, but by the time they go, several satellite nests are already thriving. Their reproductive offspring inherit the throne, meaning that their colony may persist for decades to come.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
satellite nests 2


Important Words


  1. climbs
  2. colony
  3. crack
  4. crate
  5. decades
  6. develop
  7. die
  8. establish
  9. eventually
  10. fallen
  11. fly
  12. house
  13. inherit
  14. insect
  15. kings
  16. lands
  17. lifespans
  18. longest
  19. matures
  20. meaning
  21. monarchs
  22. nearby
  23. nests
  24. offspring
  25. original
  26. persist
  27. queens
  28. reign
  29. reproductive
  30. reproductives
  31. satellite
  32. saunter
  33. scrambles
  34. shipping
  35. simply
  36. sites
  37. termite
  38. thriving
  39. throne
  40. time
  41. tree
  42. years
  43. young