A Unique Golden Textile Reading Answers

Jul 8, 2025

A Unique Golden Textile Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. A Unique Golden Textile Reading Answers has a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. In the question set, you have to choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings (I-X). In the next question set, you have to match the statement with the correct researchers. In the last set, you have to fill in the blank with the correct answer, only with one word.

The candidate's understanding and assessment of academic and general texts are examined in the IELTS Reading Section. It's critical to comprehend the guidelines for every question type and create effective ways to manage time to receive excellent band scores. Using IELTS Reading Practice Questions, you can increase your vocabulary, sharpen your critical reading skills, and become more familiar with the various question types in reading tasks.

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Topic:

A UNIQUE GOLDEN TEXTILE

A two-man project to use spider silk is achieved after 4 years

A.A rare textile made from the silk of more than a million wild spiders has gone on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. To produce the golden cloth, 70 people spent four years collecting golden orb spiders from telephone poles in Madagascar, while another dozen workers carefully extracted about 24 meters of thread from each of the arachnids. The resulting 11-foot by 4-foot textile is the only large piece of cloth made from natural spider silk existing in the world today.

B.Spider silk is very elastic and strong compared with steel or Kevlar, said textile expert Simon Peers, who led the project. Kevlar is a lightweight synthetic fabric which is often compared to nylon. It is very tough and durable and used in bullet-proof vests. Spider silk is resistant to wear, tear, and heat and has absolutely no melting point. But the tensile strength of spider silk is even

greater than Kevlar's and maintains elasticity, a strand of high-grade steel. Most importantly, spider silk is extremely lightweight: a strand of spider silk long enough to circle the Earth would weigh less than 500 grams (18 oz). It is also especially ductile, able to stretch up to 140 percent of its length without breaking, and can hold its strength below -40 c. This gives it a very high

toughness, which equals that of commercial fibers.

C.Researchers have long been intrigued by the unique properties of spider silk. Unfortunately, spider silk is extremely hard to mass produce. Unlike silkworms, which are easy to raise in captivity, spiders have a habit of chomping off each other's heads when housed together. According to Peers, there's scientific research going on all over the world right now trying to replicate the tensile properties of spider silk to apply it to all sorts of areas in medicine and industries, but no one has yet succeeded in replicating 100 percent of the properties of natural spider silk.

D.Peers came up with the idea of weaving spider silk after learning about the French missionary Jacob Paul Camboué, who worked with spiders in Madagascar during the 1890s and 1900s. Camboué built a small, hand-driven machine to extract silk from up to 24 spiders at once, without harming them. The spiders were temporarily restrained, their silk extracted, and then let go. Peers managed to build a replica of this 24-spider silk-spinning machine. It was used at the turn of the century, said Nicholas Godley, who ccyled the project with Peers. As an experiment, the pair collected and restrained about 80 spiders. When we stuck

them in the machine and started turning it, a lot of them started to spin beautiful gold-colored silk straight onto our machine, Godley said.

E.But to make even the tiniest significant size, the silk experts had to drastically scale their plan. Fourteen thousand spiders yield about an ounce of silk, Godley said, and the textile weighs about 2.8 pounds. The numbers are overwhelming. To achieve their goal, Godley and Peers began hiring dozens of spider handlers to collect wild arachnids and carefully harness them to the silk extractors. When they needed people who were willing to work with spiders, Godley said, because by the end of the project, the team had spent more than 1 million spider lifetimes. In return, they produced a beautiful yet absolutely impractical cloth, passion provided

by love and obsession. Once the spiders had been silked, they were released back into the wild, said Godley. Godley said it takes them about a week to regenerate their silk. We can go back and get more from the same spiders, he said. It's like the gift that never stops giving.

F.Of course, spending four years to produce a single textile of spider silk isn't very practical for scientists trying to study the properties of spider silk, or companies that want to manufacture the fabric for use as a biomedical product, or an alternative to Kevlar armor. Several groups have tried inserting spider genes into bacteria or even cows and goats to produce silk, but so far,

the attempts have been only moderately successful. Part of the reason it's so hard to generate spider silk in the lab is that it starts out as a liquid protein that's produced by a special gland in the spider's abdomen. Using their spinneret, spiders apply force to rearrange the protein's molecular structure and transform it into solid silk. When we talk about a spider spinning silk, we're talking about how the spider applies forces to produce a transformation from liquid to solid, said spider silk expert Todd Blackledge of the University of Akron, Ohio, US, who was not involved in creating the textile. Scientists simply can't replicate the efficiency with which a spider produces silk. Every year we're getting closer and closer to being able to mass-produce it, but we're not there yet. For now, it seems we'll have to be content with one incredibly beautiful cloth, graciously provided by more than a million spiders.

Question 14-19

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.

LIST OF HEADINGS

i. Experimenting with an old idea

ii. Life cycle of Madagascar spiders

iii. Advances in the textile industry

iv. Resources needed to meet the project's demands

v. The physical properties of spider silk

vi. A scientific analysis of spider silk

vii. A unique work of art

viii. Importance of the silk textile market

ix. Difficulties of raising spiders in captivity

14. Paragraph A

Answer: VII

Supporting statement: The resulting 11-foot by 4-foot textile is the only large piece of cloth made from natural spider silk existing in the world today.

Keywords: foot, textile

Keyword Location: Para A, Line 5

Explanation: The uniqueness and effort required to create the uncommon golden cloth manufactured from spider silk are highlighted in paragraph A.

15. Paragraph B

Answer: V

Supporting statement: Spider silk is resistant to wear, tear, and heat and has absolutely no melting point.

Keywords: resistant, heat

Keyword Location: Para B, Lines 4-5

Explanation: The qualities of spider silk, including its strength, elasticity, light weight and heat resistance, are covered in paragraph B.

16. Paragraph C

Answer: IX

Supporting statement: Unfortunately, spider silk is extremely hard to mass produce. Unlike silkworms, which are easy to raise in captivity,

Keywords: spider silk, silkworms

Keyword Location: Para C, Line 2

Explanation: Paragraph C, highlights the difficulty of mass-producing spider silk by showing the lack of ability of spiders to live in harmony with one another, as they tend to bite off each other's heads.

17. Paragraph D

Answer: I

Supporting statement: Peers came up with the idea of weaving spider silk after learning about the French missionary Jacob Paul Camboué

Keywords: Peers, Jacob Paul

Keyword Location: Para D, Lines 1-2

Explanation: In Paragraph D, the concept of making textiles from spider silk is rooted in past customs, particularly the efforts of a French missionary, Jacob Paul Camboué.

18. Paragraph E

Answer: IV

Supporting statement: Fourteen thousand spiders yield about an ounce of silk, Godley said, and the textile weighs about 2.8 pounds. The numbers are overwhelming.

Keywords: weighs, 2.8 pounds

Keyword Location: Para E, Line 3

Explanation: The resources and effort needed are described in paragraph E, including the quantity of workers and spiders necessary.

19. Paragraph F

Answer: VI

Supporting statement: Part of the reason it's so hard to generate spider silk in the lab is that it starts out as a liquid protein that's produced by a special gland in the spider's abdomen.

Keywords: protein, special gland

Keyword Location: Para F, Line 6

Explanation: Paragraph F describes the difficulties in reproducing spider silk in the laboratory, including the molecular transformation process involved, which turns the liquid they produce into a solid.

Questions 20-23

Match each statement with the correct researcher, A, B, or C.

NB. You may use any letter more than once.

20. It takes a tremendous number of spiders to make a small amount of silk

Answer: B

Supporting statement: Fourteen thousand spiders yield about an ounce of silk, Godley said, and the textile weighs about 2.8 pounds. The numbers are overwhelming.

Keywords: ounce, numbers

Keyword Location: Para E, Lines 2-3

Explanation: The paragraph mentions that the overwhelming number of spiders to make a small amount of silk is mentioned by Nicholas Godley.

21. Scientists want to use the qualities of spider silk for medical purposes

Answer: A

Supporting statement: According to Peers, there's scientific research going on all over the world right now trying to replicate the tensile properties of spider silk to apply it to all sorts of areas in medicine and industries

Keywords: properties, medicine

Keyword Location: Para C, Line 5

Explanation: In the text, Simon Peers suggests that spider silk can be used for medicinal purposes.

22. Scientists are making some progress in their efforts to manufacture spider silk

Answer: C

Supporting statement: Every year we're getting closer and closer to being able to mass-produce it, but we're not there yet.

Keywords: closer, mass-produce

Keyword Location: Para F, Line 12

Explanation: While admitting the difficulties, Todd Blackledge notes that efforts to replicate the qualities of spider silk are still ongoing.

23. Spider silk compares favorably to materials known for their strength

Answer: A

Supporting statement: Spider silk is very elastic and strong compared with steel or Kevlar, said textile expert Simon Peers,

Keywords: elastic and strong, Kevlar

Keyword Location: Para B, Line 1

Explanation: In the text, Simon Peers favourably compares the strength and flexibility of spider silk to materials such as steel and Kevlar.

LIST OF RESEARCHERS

A. Simon Peers

B. Nicholas Godley

C. Todd Blackledge

Questions 24-26

Choose ONE WORD ONLY.

Both scientists and manufacturers are interested in producing silk for many different purposes. Some researchers have tried to grow silk by introducing genetic material into 24________ and some animals. But these experiments have been somewhat disappointing.

Answer: BACTERIA

Supporting statement: Several groups have tried inserting spider genes into bacteria or even cows and goats to produce silk,

Keywords: bacteria, cows and goats

Keyword Location: Para F, Line 4

Explanation: According to the text, scientists have tried to replicate the spider silk by injecting the genetic material into bacteria and some animals.

It is difficult to make spider silk in a lab setting because the silk comes from a liquid protein made in a 25______________ inside the spider's body.

Answer: GLAND

Supporting statement: spider silk in the lab is that it starts out as a liquid protein that's produced by a special gland in the spider's abdomen.

Keywords: lab, gland

Keyword Location: Para F, Line 6

Explanation: The research claims that because spider silk is created from a liquid protein produced in a gland inside the spider's body, it is challenging to produce in a lab.

When a spider spins silk, it causes a 26________ that turns this liquid into solid silk. Scientists cannot replicate this yet.

Answer: FORCE

Supporting statement: Using their spinneret, spiders apply force to rearrange the protein's molecular structure and transform it into solid silk.

Keywords: force, molecular

Keyword Location: Para F, Lines 7-8

Explanation: According to the text, a spider's spinning creates a force that solidifies the liquid silk. Researchers are still unable to reproduce this in a lab.

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