{"id":"34","text":"

(1)<\/strong> Social parasitism involves one species relying on another to raise<\/u><\/strong> its young. (2) <\/strong>Among vertebrates, the best known social parasites are such birds as cuckoos and cowbirds; the female lays an egg in a nest belonging to another species and leaves it for the host to  rear. (3) <\/strong>The dulotic species of ants, however, are the supreme social parasites. (4) <\/strong>Consider, for example, the unusual behavior of ants belonging to the genus Polyergus. (5) <\/strong>All species of this ant have lost the ability to care for themselves. (6) <\/strong>The workers do not forage for food, feed their brood or queen, or even dean their own nest. (7) <\/strong>To compensate for these deficits, Polyergus has become specialized at obtaining workers from the related genus Formica to do these chores. (8) <\/strong>In a raid, several thousand Polyergus workers will travel up to 500 feet in search of a Formica nest, penetrate it, drive off the queen and tier workers, capture the pupal   brood, and transport it back to their nest. (9) <\/strong>The captured brood is then reared by the resident Formica workers until the developing pupae emerge to add to the Formica population, which maintains the mixed-species nest the Formica workers forage for food and give it to colony members of both species. (10) <\/strong>They also remove wastes and excavate<\/strong><\/u> new chambers as the population increases. (11)<\/strong> The true extent of the Polyergus ants' dependence on the Formica becomes apparent when the worker population grows too large for the existing nest. (12) <\/strong>Formica scouts locate   a new nesting site, return to the mixed-species colony, and recruit<\/strong><\/u> additional Formica   nest mates. (13) <\/strong>During a period that may last seven days, the Formica workers carry to the new nest all the Polyergus eggs, larvae, and pupae, every Polyergus adult, and even the Polyergus queen. (14) <\/strong>Of the approximately 8,000 species of ants in the world, all 5 species of Polyergus and some 200 species in other genera have evolved some degree of parasitic relationship with other ants. <\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n","toeflReadingTestQuestions":[{"id":"353","type":"1","text":"

Which of the following statements best represents the main idea of the passage?<\/span><\/p>\r\n","toeflReadingTestAnswers":[{"id":"3522","text":"Ants belonging to the genus Formica are incapable of performing certain tasks. "},{"id":"3523","text":"The genus Polyergus is quite similar to the genus Formica. "},{"id":"3524","text":"Ants belonging to the genus Polyergus have an unusual relationship with ants belonging to the genus Formica. "},{"id":"3525","text":"Polyergus ants frequently leave their nests to build new colonies.\u00a0"}]},{"id":"354","type":"1","text":"

The word "raise<\/strong>" in the sentence 1 is closest in meaning to<\/span><\/p>\r\n","toeflReadingTestAnswers":[{"id":"3534","text":"rear"},{"id":"3535","text":"lift"},{"id":"3536","text":"collect"},{"id":"3537","text":"increase\u00a0"}]},{"id":"355","type":"1","text":"

The author mentions cuckoos and cowbirds in the sentence 2 because they<\/span><\/p>\r\n","toeflReadingTestAnswers":[{"id":"3538","text":"share their nests with each other"},{"id":"3539","text":"are closely related species"},{"id":"3540","text":"raise the young of other birds "},{"id":"3541","text":"are social parasites"}]},{"id":"356","type":"1","text":"

The word "it<\/strong>" in the sentence 2 refers to<\/span><\/p>\r\n","toeflReadingTestAnswers":[{"id":"3542","text":"species"},{"id":"3543","text":"nest"},{"id":"3544","text":"egg"},{"id":"3545","text":"female"}]},{"id":"357","type":"1","text":"

What does the author mean by stating that “The dulotic species of lifts... are the supreme social parasites" (sentence 3) ? <\/span><\/p>\r\n","toeflReadingTestAnswers":[{"id":"3954","text":"The Polyergus are more highly developed than die Formica. "},{"id":"3955","text":"The Formica have developed specialized roles. "},{"id":"3956","text":"The Polyergus are heavily dependent on the Formica. "},{"id":"3957","text":"The Formica do not reproduce rapidly enough to care for themselves"}]},{"id":"358","type":"1","text":"

Which of the following is a task that an ant of the genus Polyergus might do?   <\/span><\/p>\r\n","toeflReadingTestAnswers":[{"id":"3550","text":"Look for food. "},{"id":"3551","text":"Raid another nest."},{"id":"3552","text":"Care for the young. "},{"id":"3553","text":"Clean its own nest."}]},{"id":"359","type":"1","text":"

The word "excavate<\/strong>" in the sentence 10 is closest in meaning to<\/span><\/p>\r\n","toeflReadingTestAnswers":[{"id":"3558","text":"find"},{"id":"3559","text":"clean"},{"id":"3560","text":"repair"},{"id":"3561","text":"dig \u00a0"}]},{"id":"360","type":"1","text":"

The word "recruit<\/strong>" in line 12 is closest in meaning  <\/span><\/p>\r\n","toeflReadingTestAnswers":[{"id":"3834","text":"create"},{"id":"3835","text":"enlist"},{"id":"3836","text":"endure"},{"id":"3837","text":"capture\u00a0"}]},{"id":"361","type":"1","text":"

What happens when a mixed colony of Polyergus and Formica ants becomes too large?<\/span><\/p>\r\n","toeflReadingTestAnswers":[{"id":"3950","text":"The Polyergus workers enlarge the existing nest. "},{"id":"3951","text":"The captured Formica workers return to their original nest. "},{"id":"3952","text":"The Polyergus and the Formica build separate nests. "},{"id":"3953","text":"The Polyergus and the Formica move to a new nest.\u00a0"}]},{"id":"362","type":"1","text":"

According to the information in the passage, all of the following terms refer to ants belonging to the genus Formica EXCEPT the 
\r\n <\/span>
\r\n <\/p>\r\n","toeflReadingTestAnswers":[{"id":"3570","text":"dulotic species of ants (sentence 3)"},{"id":"3571","text":"captured brood (sentence 9) "},{"id":"3572","text":"developing pupae (sentence 9) "},{"id":"3573","text":"worker population (sentence 11)"}]}],"question":true}