# PTE RW FIB #34: Poultry Industry Innovations and...

Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks #34 - Level 3 - Feeds Reading

> Below is a text with blanks. Click on each blank, a list of choice will appear. Select the appropriate answer choice for each blank.

Male chicks have been dealt a bad hand. They don't lay eggs and typically have less meat on their bones than hens, meaning they're not only useless but a ____ to farmers. As such, these undesirable byproducts of egg production may be killed through gassing. The mass culling of male chicks is not only tragic but also resource-intensive for farmers, who must manually ____ males from females shortly after they hatch. But a groundbreaking development could have major implications for animal welfare in the poultry industry, perhaps finally putting an end to the ____ of an estimated seven billion male chicks each year shortly after they hatch due to their lack of commercial value. Israeli researchers have created gene-edited hens that lay eggs from which only female chicks hatch. The team, led by Dr. Enbal Ben-Tal Cohen, used gene-editing tools to ____ hens that produce eggs with unviable male embryos when exposed to blue light for several hours. Female chick embryos are unaffected by the light and continue to develop normally.

## Answer

Male chicks have been dealt a bad hand. They don't lay eggs and typically have less meat on their bones than hens, meaning they're not only useless but a **liability** to farmers. As such, these undesirable byproducts of egg production may be killed through gassing. The mass culling of male chicks is not only tragic but also resource-intensive for farmers, who must manually **sort** males from females shortly after they hatch. But a groundbreaking development could have major implications for animal welfare in the poultry industry, perhaps finally putting an end to the **culling** of an estimated seven billion male chicks each year shortly after they hatch due to their lack of commercial value. Israeli researchers have created gene-edited hens that lay eggs from which only female chicks hatch. The team, led by Dr. Enbal Ben-Tal Cohen, used gene-editing tools to **breed** hens that produce eggs with unviable male embryos when exposed to blue light for several hours. Female chick embryos are unaffected by the light and continue to develop normally.

## Explanation

Blank 1 follows "not only useless but a," so you need a noun meaning a burden or cost. "Liability" fits. "Sensibility" and "digestibility" do not describe a problem for farmers. In blank 3, "culling" repeats the idea of "mass culling" from earlier. "Pulling" and "curling" only look similar.

## Hints

- Look at the words immediately before and after each blank to determine if you need a noun, verb, or adjective.
- Consider the overall theme of the passage, which focuses on the economic burden and the technological solutions being developed.

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