In a battle between bugs and trees, bugs sometimes win. This is happening in the Great Smoky Mountains, in the southeastern United States. The bugs are woolly adelgids (uh-DEL-jidz). The trees are eastern hemlocks. In Great Smoky Mountain National Park, these trees can grow more than 150 feet tall. Some are more than 500 years old. The hemlock forests of the park cover tens of thousands of acres. Since 2002, though, the insects have been attacking hemlocks by the hundreds. If these bugs are not stopped, they could kill most of the hemlocks in the park. This would harm other living things. For example, hemlocks provide shade along creeks. This keeps the creeks cool enough for fish to survive.
How, exactly, do the adelgids attack the trees? The adelgids cover themselves with a white "wool" that protects them. They then feed on the trees' sap at the base of their needles. This stops the flow of food to parts of the trees. The hemlocks lose their needles and starve to death.
Park officials are trying different ways to get rid of the insects. One method is releasing beetles that feed on woolly adelgids. In a battle between bugs and bugs, maybe the right bugs will win.
1. Which sentence states the main idea of the passage?
A. Woolly adelgids feed on the white wool that protects them.
B. Woolly adelgids live along the creek in the national park.
C. Woolly adelgids are killing hemlock trees in the national park.
D. Woolly adelgids are becoming extinct.
2. How do park officials plan to help save the hemlock trees?
A. They will plant more hemlock trees along the creek beds.
B. They will release beetles that feed on adelgids into the environment.
C. They will cover the trees with a white woolly substance to protect them.
D. They will use needles to pump more sap into the trees.
3. Losing the hemlocks would harm other living things. What is the most likely reason for this?
A. All kinds of wildlife depend on the hemlock trees for their own existence.
B. Losing the hemlocks could start a battle between different kinds of bugs.
C. Many park officials will lose their jobs if the hemlock trees die.
D. Without hemlock trees, the woolly adelgids will have nothing to eat.
4. What does the author mean by "maybe the right bugs will win"?
A. All of the hemlock trees may die.
B. The woolly adelgids might win over the beetles.
C. The park officials might protect the hemlock trees.
D. The beetles might win over the woolly adelgids.
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