PSLE Comprehension Cloze Practice 2: The Honey Bee (with answers)
How to use this page: factual passages hide their clues in logic and sequence, not feelings. Fill in every blank first, reading the whole sentence, and keep the reveals closed before you check.
This is a shorter seven-blank warm-up. The real PSLE passage has fifteen blanks, but the skill it tests is identical.
The passage
The honey bee is one of the most important insects on our planet. Although it is tiny, it plays a huge (1) _______ in helping plants to grow. As bees fly from flower to flower to collect nectar, they carry pollen with them, (2) _______ helps the flowers make seeds and fruit.
Bees live together in large groups called colonies. Each colony has thousands of worker bees, (3) _______ collect food, and one queen bee, (4) _______ lays all the eggs. The workers communicate with one another by dancing, a special movement that tells the others (5) _______ to find the best flowers.
Sadly, bee numbers have been falling in recent years, (6) _______ of pollution and the loss of their natural homes. Scientists warn that if bees were to disappear, many of the crops we depend on would struggle to grow. (7) _______, protecting bees is something everyone should care about.
Check your answers
Blank 1: reveal answer
Answer: role (or part). "Plays a huge ___ in helping" is a fixed expression: a bee "plays a role/part". The verb "plays" is the clue.
Blank 2: reveal answer
Answer: which. It refers back to the whole action (carrying pollen) and introduces its result, so a relative pronoun for a thing fits.
Blank 3: reveal answer
Answer: which (or that). It introduces information about the worker bees after the comma: "which/that collect food".
Blank 4: reveal answer
Answer: which (or that). Same pattern for the queen bee: "which/that lays all the eggs".
Blank 5: reveal answer
Answer: where. The dance tells others the place to find flowers; "where to find" signals location.
Blank 6: reveal answer
Answer: because. Cause-and-effect: falling numbers caused by pollution and habitat loss. "because of" fits the "of" that follows.
Blank 7: reveal answer
Answer: Therefore (or So). The final sentence draws a conclusion from everything above, so a conclusion connector is needed.
Self-check on the tricky blanks
Blank (2): choose the word that fits: 'they carry pollen with them, ___ helps the flowers make seeds and fruit.'
Show answer & explanation
Answer: (B) which
The correct answer is (B) 'which'. After the comma it refers back to the whole action of carrying pollen, a thing rather than a person, and introduces its result. (A) 'who' is only for people. (C) 'where' signals a place. (D) 'whose' shows possession, which does not fit here.
Blank (5): choose the word that fits: 'a movement that tells the others ___ to find the best flowers.'
Show answer & explanation
Answer: (C) where
The correct answer is (C) 'where'. The dance tells the other bees the location: 'where to find the best flowers'. (A) 'how' would describe a method, not a place. (B) 'when' would give a time. (D) 'why' would give a reason. Only location makes sense with 'find the best flowers'.
Blank (7): choose the word that fits: '___, protecting bees is something everyone should care about.'
Show answer & explanation
Answer: (B) Therefore
The correct answer is (B) 'Therefore'. The last sentence draws a conclusion from everything said before, so a conclusion connector is needed. (A) 'However' signals contrast, but this sentence agrees with the point above. (C) 'Meanwhile' signals things happening at the same time. (D) 'Otherwise' means 'if not', which does not fit.
The habit to take away
In factual passages the clues are often relative pronouns (who/which/that after a comma), sequence and location words (where, then), and conclusion signals (therefore, so). Teach your child to spot the comma-then-describe pattern: "one queen bee, ___ lays all the eggs" almost always wants which/who/that.
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