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Read the passage carefully. Then choose the
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Silk was first made by the Chinese, who early
learnt how to unravel the cocoons of the
silkworm and weave the threads into material. A
Chinese empress who lived in about 2640 B.C. is
said to have devoted herself to the rearing of
silkworms and to have invented a loom for
weaving silk. For hundreds of years the Chinese
closely guarded the secret of raising silkworms
and making silk. Silk is made from threads
spun by the caterpillar of a moth when it is
making the cocoon in which it becomes a pupa.
This moth, closely related to the British
emperor moth is known to scientists as 'Bombyx
mori'. Because silk is a beautiful material,
silkworms have been specially bred for
centuries. It is likely that their original home
was China, but they are not found in the wild
anywhere and so no one is certain where they
came from.
The silkworm moth is pale grey in color and
measures about four centimeters across its
wings. it is a feeble creature that neither
flies nor feeds and lives only two or three
days. The caterpillars are pale grey and smooth,
rather humped up at the front with a blunt,
hornlike projection at the rear. They moult, or
shed their skins four times before they change
into pupae. They will eat only mulberry leaves
and prefer those of the white mulberry. The
eggs, which are yellow, are known as 'seed' by
people who rear silkworms for trade, and are
sold by weight. One ounce of seed contains about
30,000 to 50,000 eggs. Silkworms have been
specially reared for so long that the whole
process is very highly organized. The females
are made to lay their eggs on cards which can
easily be stored in proper conditions throughout
the winter. When the eggs should be ready to
hatch, the cards are placed on trays and covered
with mulberry leaves.
Great care has to be taken to keep silkworms
and their trays spotlessly clean, for they are
attacked by many diseases. When the caterpillars
are ready to turn into pupae, loose twigs are
placed over the leaves on their trays and they
spin their cocoons on to them. The silk is
formed in a pair of glands and flows out as a
liquid through tiny openings on the
caterpillar's lower lip. As soon as it reaches
the air it hardens. The long silken threads on
which other caterpillars swing in the wind are
made in the same way. The silken threads on the
outside of the cocoon are twisted and rough, but
those lining the inside are smooth. Soon after
the cocoons are formed, those from which the
silk is to be taken are treated with dry heat in
order to kill the pupae inside them. They are
then put in hot water to loosen the silken
threads and, after the rough outer silk has been
removed, the inner thread is wound on to a reel.
A single cocoon may consists of a thread 300
meters long. Usually the threads from several
cocoons are twisted together and wound off at
the same time so as to make a stronger thread.
Such threads can be woven at once without any
further treatment, but they are more often still
further strengthened by twisting several of them
together. They may also be dyed before use.
After cocoons have been unwound and the
threads twisted together to make them stronger,
they are wound into skeins in a factory. The
silk is harsh to the touch because it is covered
with a gummy substance. Boiling water and soap
are used to remove this gum, and the threads are
left lustrous and soft but much lighter. The
silk is then wound on to bobbins and is
'thrown'. This means that two or more bobbins
are placed close together and the threads from
both are twisted and wound on to another bobbin.
The amount of twist the silk is given depends on
the uses to which it is to be put. Silk with
little or no twist is used for making satin, and
silk with a very high twist for the manufacture
of silk crepe fabrics. Most silk does not need
to be spun because it is already in the form of
a long, unbroken thread. Some threads, however,
are certain to get broken, and these are made
into the material known as spun silk. |
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1. |
The writer tells of a Chinese empress who ______. |
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(A) |
kept the secret of silkworms from the world |
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(B) |
took care of silkworms with great kindness |
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(C) |
organized the process by which silk is obtained |
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(D) |
spent her whole life keeping silkworms |
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2. |
Silk is probably precious because ______. |
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(A) |
of the time and effort involved in obtaining it |
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(B) |
an empress developed the loom for weaving silk |
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(C) |
its original home is in China |
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(D) |
people kept everything secret |
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3. |
Which of the following statements is
not true ? |
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(A) |
The Chinese were the first to make silk. |
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(B) |
The Chinese invented a loom for weaving silk. |
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(C) |
Silkworms abound in the wild in China. |
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(D) |
Silkworms originated from China |
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4. |
We are told that the eggs of the silkworms
are very ______. |
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(A) |
small |
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(B) |
expensive |
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(C) |
organized |
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(D) |
vulnerable |
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5. |
Silkworm eggs are covered with mulberry
leaves to ______. |
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(A) |
provide shade |
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(B) |
protect them |
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(C) |
let the eggs stick on them |
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(D) |
give the caterpillars foods |
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6. |
The caterpillars of the silkworm are given
great care because ______. |
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(A) |
silk is extracted from them |
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(B) |
they are prone to diseases |
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(C) |
growth is fastest at this stage |
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(D) |
more eggs will be laid if care if given |
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7. |
The hot water treatment ______. |
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(A) |
kills the pupae |
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(B) |
strengthens the thread |
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(C) |
induces them to produce silk |
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(D) |
dissolves the gummy substance |
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8. |
The number of threads that are twisted
together depends on the ______. |
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(A) |
use to which they are put |
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(B) |
length of the thread obtained |
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(C) |
quality of the thread |
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(D) |
amount actually available |
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9. |
The gummy substance makes the silk thread
______. |
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(A) |
lustrous |
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(B) |
stronger |
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(C) |
feel rough |
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(D) |
soft and light |
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10 |
A suitable title for this passage would be
______. |
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(A) |
The Secret Of Silk |
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(B) |
How Silk Is Made |
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(C) |
The Chinese Silk Makers |
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(D) |
The Chinese Silkworms |
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Sponsored Links
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Answers : 1D 2A 3C
4A 5D 6B 7D 8A
9C 10B |
