Speed Reading — Monster Bees - Level 3 — 300 wpm

Now do this put-the-text-back-together activity.


This is the text (if you need help).

Most small children are afraid of the dark and can have nightmares in bed. They are scared of noises at night, or are frightened of imaginary monsters in their bedroom. For one little girl in the USA, the monster turned out to be real. Three-year-old Saylor spent months telling her parents that there were "monsters in the wall" of her bedroom. Saylor's parents thought the "monsters" came from their daughter's overactive imagination. Saylor's mother said the little girl had just seen the Pixar movie Monsters, Inc. She thought that was the reason Saylor was seeing monsters. However, Saylor's parents were shocked when they found out there was something behind their daughter's bedroom wall. There were 60,000 bees.

After the mother found the bees, she called a beekeeper. The beekeeper said the insects were honeybees. These are a protected species in the USA, so they could not be killed. The beekeeper used a thermal camera to see the heat patterns behind the wall. He said he had never seen so many bees in a house. He drilled a hole in the bedroom wall and hundreds of the creatures flew out. The mother said: "They just came pouring out like a horror movie." The beekeeper has removed about 45 kg of honeycomb. The beekeeper captured the bees and put them in special boxes. They are now living in safety on a honeybee sanctuary. The bees caused more than $20,000 in damages to the house.

Comprehension questions
  1. What does the article say children can have in bed?
  2. How long did Saylor spend telling her parents about monsters?
  3. Where did Saylor's parents think the monsters came from?
  4. Where in the house were the bees?
  5. How did Saylor's parents feel when they discovered the bees?
  6. Who did Saylor's mother call?
  7. What did the beekeeper use to see the heat pattern of the bees?
  8. What did the beekeeper drill a hole in?
  9. What did the beekeeper take from the house that weighed 45 kg?
  10. How much is the repair bill caused by the bees?

Back to the monster bees lesson.

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