Bugs For Sale

1/3/2022 8:53:00 PM
Image: twosecondstreet.com

Do you know?

  • Vending machines have become popular in public areas. Such automated machines normally provide items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets.
  • However, a Japanese company did create a weird kind of vending machine. Instead of selling snacks or drinks, it offers beetles to consumers. 

Let's explore more in the following passage

Let's learn some new words before you read the passage:

Listen to the passage Bugs for Sale and complete the sentences by dragging the correct word to each blank.

How often have you gone to a vending machine to get a bag of chips? What if you found a pair of live instead? It may sound strange, but a company in Japan sells large beetles through . The vending machine company and nature conservationists disagree about selling beetles this way.

Many school-age children in Japan collect beetles. Other people also enjoy this hobby. However, people are building houses where the beetles live. This destroys the beetles’ homes. Now, it is difficult to find the beetles in .

Since 1999, the Mirai Seiko Company has been selling these beetles in vending machines. The company says that it wants to help people own these insects. It also says that it takes good care of the beetles in the machines. True or not, the machines are very popular. The machines sell more than 1,500 beetles per month. Sometimes, people buy all the beetles in a machine in just a few minutes.

On the other hand, feel that the machines are harmful. Children may think that living creatures are like or boxes of candy. Do you feel that the vending machines give people a rare experience, or that they give children bad ideas? Either way, they show how clever people can be.

Read and answer the following questions.

Bugs for Sale

Beetles were sold through vending machines in Japan. Image: fravel.co

How often have you gone to a vending machine to get a bag of chips? What if you found a pair of live beetles instead? It may sound strange, but a company in Japan sells large beetles through vending machines. The vending machine company and nature conservationists disagree about selling beetles this way.

Many school-age children in Japan collect beetles. Other people also enjoy this hobby. However, people are building houses where the beetles live. This destroys the beetles’ homes. Now, it is difficult to find the beetles in the wild.

Since 1999, the Mirai Seiko Company has been selling these beetles in vending machines. The company says that it wants to help people own these rare insects. It also says that it takes good care of the beetles in the machines. True or not, the machines are very popular. The machines sell more than 1,500 beetles per month. Sometimes, people buy all the beetles in a machine in just a few minutes.

On the other hand, conservationists feel that the machines are harmful. Children may think that living creatures are like soft drinks or boxes of candy. Do you feel that the vending machines give people a rare experience, or that they give children bad ideas? Either way, they show how clever people can be.

Source: Reading Challenge 1

What is another good title for this reading?
  • “Expensive Beetles in Japan”
  • “Unusual Vending Machines”
  • “Japanese Rare Beetles”
  • “Japanese Children’s Hobbies”

Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

  • The conservationists' attitude towards automated beetles sales
  • The purpose of the company selling beetles through vending machines
  • The way how people destroy the natural homes of beetles
  • The total number of beetles sold through vending machines in Japan
Why is it hard to find beetles in the wild?
  • Their flying speed is too fast.
  • They live underground.
  • Their habitat is disappearing.
  • They die very easily.

How quickly do the beetles sometimes sell out?

  • Within few days
  • Within hours
  • Within a month
  • Within minutes

What does the word “they” in the text refer to?

  • Japanese schoolchildren
  • Rare species of beetles in the wild
  • Nature conservationists
  • Vending machines selling beetles

Build your vocabulary by learning these intensive phrases/idioms

Choose the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s).

It was terribly hot and I started to feel strange.

  • fascinated
  • uncomfortable
  • optimistic

In the _____ of things, a shrinking economy means less job security.

  • nature
  • swim
  • scheme

_____ they'd love to have kids, but _____, they don't want to give up their freedom.

  • Not only ... but also
  • Would rather… than
  • On the one hand ... on the other

Emma: Was it his fault or not?

Rachel: , an explanation is due.