20 million bees escape from a lorry in the USA

About 20 million bees were set free after a lorry carrying them overturned in Utah in the United States.

The bees were being taken to California so they could pollinate an almond crop next spring, but they escaped after the accident. Local beekeepers worked through the night to capture the bees, but most were lost or died.

People think that the accident happened when the driver lost control of the lorry, which rolled over. The driver and his wife were swarmed by the bees, but managed to escape with just bruises and a few stings.

The trip was among the last of 160 truckloads of bees being sent south from a honey farm in South Dakota.

The highway has now reopened but drivers have been warned to keep their windows closed.

Match the words below to their definitions

almond /crop / highway / pollinate / swarmed

take pollen from a male plant to a female plant so that the female plant produces seeds
oval nut with a hard shell, which you can eat
plants that are grown so that they can be eaten, such as fruits, vegetables and grain
when insects come together in a large group
an important road

True or false?

1. The driver was alone in the lorry.
2. Bees are used to pollinate plants.
3. The bees were being taken from California to Utah.
4. The driver was seriously injured.
5. Beekeepers could not find most of the bees.
6. The highway has remained closed.
7. Bees could fly in through drivers’ windows.
8. The accident happened when the driver was stung by a bee.

Which word or phrase means the same as the one in italics?

lorry
the same as car
the same as truck
the same as trailer
capture
the same as release
the same as find
the same as catch
overturned
the same as reversed
the same as dropped
the same as rolled over
taken
the same as removed
the same as transported
the same as lost







KEY

True or false?

1. False
2. True
3. False
4. False
5. True
6. False
7. True
8. False

Vocabulary

pollinate
take pollen from a male plant to a female plant so that the female plant produces seeds
almond
oval nut with a hard shell, which you can eat
crop
plants that are grown so that they can be eaten, such as fruits, vegetables and grain
swarmed
when insects come together in a large group
highway
an important road

Which word or phrase means the same as the one in italics?

b) the same as truck
c) the same as catch
c) the same as rolled over
b) the same as transported