Information and IdeasEasyCentral Ideas and Details (locating a stated detail)
Information and Ideas practice question
The Saharan silver ant lives in one of the hottest deserts on Earth. Its body is covered with tiny triangular hairs. These hairs reflect much of the sunlight that strikes the ant and also help release heat from its body, so the ant stays cooler than the air and sand around it. Because of this cooling effect, the silver ant can leave its nest to search for food in the middle of the day, when the desert is so hot that most of the animals that hunt the ant remain hidden in shade or underground.
Based on the text, what is one benefit the silver ant gains from its hairs?
- A. It can search for food during the hottest part of the day, when most of its predators are not active.Correct
- B. It can survive for long periods without drinking any water.
- C. It can dig deeper nests than other kinds of desert ants can.
- D. It can blend in with the color of the sand so that predators cannot see it.
Answer: A. It can search for food during the hottest part of the day, when most of its predators are not active.
The text states that the hairs keep the ant cooler than its surroundings and that this cooling effect lets the ant forage at midday, when its predators stay hidden — exactly what (A) says. (B) imports a plausible desert-survival fact that the text never mentions (the passage discusses temperature, not water). (C) invents a comparison with other ant species; the text never compares nests or digging. (D) misreads 'reflect much of the sunlight' as camouflage; the text credits the hairs with cooling, not with hiding the ant's appearance.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. It can survive for long periods without drinking any water.
- Water isn't mentioned anywhere in the text — the passage only discusses how the hairs reflect sunlight and release heat, so this is a general desert fact you brought in from outside.
- C. It can dig deeper nests than other kinds of desert ants can.
- The text never compares the silver ant's nest to other ants' nests; the only benefit it names is staying cooler than the surrounding air and sand.
- D. It can blend in with the color of the sand so that predators cannot see it.
- You read 'reflect much of the sunlight' as camouflage, but the text credits that reflection with cooling the ant, not with hiding it from predators.
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