PSLE Comprehension Cloze 2: The Honey Bee
This passage helps you practise cloze on a factual text. In factual passages, the clues come from logic and the order of ideas, not from feelings. Fill in every blank before you open any answers.
This is a short warm-up with 7 blanks. The real PSLE passage has 15 blanks, but it tests the same skill.
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). We say something "plays a role" or "plays a part". The verb "plays" is the clue.
Blank 2: reveal answer
Answer: which. It points back to carrying pollen and tells you what that does. You need a word for a thing, not a person.
Blank 3: reveal answer
Answer: which (or that). It adds information about the worker bees: "which collect food".
Blank 4: reveal answer
Answer: which (or that). This follows the same pattern for the queen bee: "which lays all the eggs".
Blank 5: reveal answer
Answer: where. The dance tells the other bees the place to find flowers. "Where to find" is about a place.
Blank 6: reveal answer
Answer: because. Pollution and the loss of homes cause bee numbers to fall. The word "of" after the blank makes "because of".
Blank 7: reveal answer
Answer: Therefore (or So). The last sentence is a conclusion from what came before. You need a word that starts a conclusion.
Check the harder 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'. It points back to carrying pollen, which is a thing and not a person. It then tells you what that action does. (A) 'who' is only for people. (C) 'where' is for a place. (D) 'whose' shows who owns something, 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 place: 'where to find the best flowers'. (A) 'how' would be about a way of doing something. (B) 'when' would give a time. (D) 'why' would give a reason. Only a place 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 is a conclusion from everything before it, so you need a word that starts a conclusion. (A) 'However' shows contrast, but this sentence agrees with what came before. (C) 'Meanwhile' means at the same time. (D) 'Otherwise' means 'if not', which does not fit.
What to take away
In factual passages, look out for these kinds of clue.
| Clue | Words to try | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A comma, then more about the noun | which, who, that | "one queen bee, ___ lays all the eggs" |
| A place | where | "tells the others ___ to find the best flowers" |
| A conclusion | therefore, so | "___, protecting bees is something everyone should care about" |
When a comma is followed by more about a noun, the blank almost always needs which, who or that.
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