Question 1
Each colony of honeybees consists of three classes: a) the queen who is a prolific layer of eggs; b) the worker who is the bulwark of the colony; and c) the sedentary drone whose only function is to mate with a young queen. The queen lays the eggs that hatch into thousands of female workers; some queens live as long as five years and lay up to one million eggs. The frugal worker builds and maintains the nest, collects and stores the honey, and is the antithesis of the lazy drone, or male honeybee, who does not work and has no sting. When the drone is no longer needed, the workers, in effect, liquidate him by letting him starve to death. It’s a cruel, cruel world!
Sample Sentences: Use the new words in the following sentences.
The usually _____ novelist was frustrated by her failure to come up with a good plot.
Prolific means producing a lot, such as many books, ideas or children. A novelist who is usually prolific writes many books, so it is surprising and frustrating when she cannot think of a plot. The passage uses the same word for the queen bee, who lays up to one million eggs. Not sedentary: it describes an inactive lifestyle, not how much a writer produces.
Question 2
Len, the gregarious twin, was the _____ of Lon, the reticent one.
Antithesis means the exact opposite. Gregarious (sociable, outgoing) and reticent (quiet, reserved) are opposite personalities, so Len is the antithesis of Lon. In the passage, the hard-working worker bee is the antithesis of the lazy drone.
Question 3
The typist shook off the fetters of her _____ life and joined a mountain climbing expedition.
Sedentary means largely inactive and involving a lot of sitting. A typist sits at a desk all day, so she escapes her sedentary life by doing something very active: mountain climbing. In the passage, the drone is sedentary because he does no work.
Question 4
_____ shoppers occasionally badger supermarket managers for bargains.
Frugal means thrifty, careful not to waste money. Frugal shoppers want to save money, so they ask managers for bargains. In the passage, the frugal worker bee collects and stores honey carefully. Not prolific: shopping for bargains is about saving, not producing.
Question 5
Some feel that the United States should be a _____ to the inchoate democracies around the world.
A bulwark is a protection or strong support against danger. The gap needs a noun after a, and the idea is that the United States should protect and support young (inchoate) democracies. In the passage, the worker bee is the bulwark of the colony because it builds and maintains the nest and collects and stores the honey. Not antithesis: it means 'exact opposite', which makes no sense here.
Question 6
Definitions: Match the new words with their meanings.
prolific
Prolific means producing abundantly, making a large amount of something. Example: a prolific author who wrote fifty novels. The queen bee is a prolific layer of eggs.
Question 7
bulwark
A bulwark is a protection, like a strong wall or a person or thing that defends something. Example: The army was a bulwark against invasion. The worker bee is the bulwark of the colony.
Question 8
sedentary
Sedentary means largely inactive or used to sitting a lot. Example: Office workers often have a sedentary lifestyle. The lazy drone in the passage is sedentary.
Question 9
frugal
Frugal means thrifty, careful with money or food and not wasting anything. Example: a frugal family that saves every penny. The worker bee is frugal because it carefully stores honey.
Question 10
antithesis
Antithesis means the exact opposite. It is usually used as the antithesis of: Cruelty is the antithesis of kindness. The hard-working worker bee is the antithesis of the lazy drone.
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Free worksheets for class or home
NEW WORDS
- prolific [prə lif´ ik]
“Isaac Asimov was a truly prolific writer, seemingly able to complete a book every two weeks.” Art Nichols, Selling Your Manuscript
- bulwark [bůl´ wərk]
“That England, hedged in with the main, That water-walled bulwark, still secure And confidant from foreign purposes.” William Shakespeare, King John
- sedentary [sed´ n ter´ ē]
“Seeger had seen him relapsing gradually into the small-town hardware merchant he had been before the war, sedentary and a little shy.” Irwin Shaw, “Act of Faith”
- frugal [frü´ gəl]
“He was famously frugal—‘so tight he damn near squeaked’ says a colleague.” Eric Pooley, “How George Got His Groove,” TIME, 6/21/99
- antithesis [an tith´ ə sis]
“Drunkenness is the antithesis of dignity.” Bergen Evans, “Now Everyone is Hip About Slang”
TODAY’S IDIOM
the world, the flesh, and the devil—temptations that cause man to sin
By entering the monastery he sought to avoid the world, the flesh, and the devil.