2. Giant Crickets Chew Through Iowa

Giant Crickets Chew Through Iowa

Giant crickets are chewing their way through southeastern Iowa at an alarming rate, devouring crops and creating road hazards in what locals say is the worst outbreak of the insects since World War II. A state of emergency has been declared by the Fulton County Commisioner's Office, and warning signs have been posted on roads. Crickets smashed by cars on the road surface create a dangerous, mushy mixture slicker than ice.
"Their guts and stuff just get mashed, and this causes horrible accidents" said Tom Lewis, a state Department of Agriculture official, who has persuaded the state to authorize over $300,000 in cricket control measures.
The larger than average, human hand-sized crickets aren't really crickets at all, but a species of insect belonging to the grasshopper family. Their voracious appetites take in anything they can find. Even at a density of just one cricket per square meter, they can consume over 18 kilograms of plant material per acre as they pass through an area. They will even eat each other.
Once on the move, their mobility makes them even harder to kill, because they can travel two kilometers a day and over one hundred in a season. At the end of their 60-90 day life cycle, they lay eggs that incubate through the winter and then hatch in the spring, maturing quickly into more hungry adult crickets.
"Right now they are just kind of slowly grazing, but in two weeks, they will just start gorging, and they will devastate anything that is green," said Annie Reynolds, a disaster services coordinator for Fulton County.
Locals say that the infestation of crickets rivals one that came to the area just before World War II. The outbreak led to tales of crickets devouring entire gardens in downtown Womata, Iowa, and homeowners putting sheet metal around their yards to try to keep the crickets out.
The giant crickets have also invaded northwest California this year, prompting a disaster declaration in Sierra County as well.

 
 
 
 

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Questions

Choose the best explanation the following words and phrases from the text...
  1. "Voracious appetites" means: 
  2. "Tom Lewis…has persuaded the state to authorize" means:
  3. "Prompting a disaster declaration" means:
  4. "Outbreak" means: 
  5. "At an alarming rate" means: 
Are the following questions about the reading correct?

1.   The crickets are dangerous to people because they block drivers' view of the road and cause accidents.

2.   Officials expect that the cricket disaster will soon get worse.

3.   The average cricket lives for three to four months.

4.   An average cricket can consume 18 kilograms of plant material per acre as it passes through an area.

5.   This species of cricket eats only fruits, vegetables and other plants.

 

 

Answer Key