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雅思閱讀每日一練:THE STORY OF SILK

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2021年05月08日

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雅思閱讀是一場持久戰(zhàn),只有對文字有了足夠的熟悉,才能在卷面上獲得更高的分數。下面是聽力課堂小編整理的雅思閱讀每日一練:THE STORY OF SILK的資料,平時多看多練,考試正常發(fā)揮就好。

  THE STORY OF SILK

  The history of the world’s most luxurious fabric, from ancient China to the present day

  Silk is a fine, smooth material produced from the cocoons — soft protective shells — that are made by mulberry silkworms (insect larvae). Legend has it that it was Lei Tzu, wife of the Yellow Emperor, ruler of China in about 3000 BC, who discovered silkworms. One account of the story goes that as she was taking a walk in her husband’s gardens, she discovered that silkworms were responsible for the destruction of several mulberry trees. She collected a number of cocoons and sat down to have a rest. It just so happened that while she was sipping some tea, one of the cocoons that she had collected landed in the hot tea and started to unravel into a fine thread. Lei Tzu found that she could wind this thread around her fingers. Subsequently, she persuaded her husband to allow her to rear silkworms on a grove of mulberry trees. She also devised a special reel to draw the fibres from the cocoon into a single thread so that they would be strong enough to be woven into fabric. While it is unknown just how much of this is true, it is certainly known that silk cultivation has existed in China for several millennia.

  Originally, silkworm farming was solely restricted to women, and it was they who were responsible for the growing, harvesting and weaving. Silk quickly grew into a symbol of status, and originally, only royalty were entitled to have clothes made of silk. The rules were gradually relaxed over the years until finally during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD), even peasants, the lowest caste, were also entitled to wear silk. Sometime during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), silk was so prized that it was also used as a unit of currency. Government officials were paid their salary in silk, and farmers paid their taxes in grain and silk. Silk was also used as diplomatic gifts by the emperor. Fishing lines, bowstrings, musical instruments and paper were all made using silk. The earliest indication of silk paper being used was discovered in the tomb of a noble who is estimated to have died around 168 AD.

  Demand for this exotic fabric eventually created the lucrative trade route now known as the Silk Road, taking silk westward and bringing gold, silver and wool to the East. It was named the Silk Road after its most precious commodity, which was considered to be worth more than gold. The Silk Road stretched over 6,000 kilometres from Eastern China to the Mediterranean Sea, following the Great Wall of China, climbing the Pamir mountain range, crossing modern-day Afghanistan and going on to the Middle East, with a major trading market in Damascus. From there, the merchandise was shipped across the Mediterranean Sea. Few merchants travelled the entire route; goods were handled mostly by a series of middlemen.

  With the mulberry silkworm being native to China, the country was the world’s sole producer of silk for many hundreds of years. The secret of silk-making eventually reached the rest of the world via the Byzantine Empire, which ruled over the Mediterranean region of southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East during the period 330-1453 AD. According to another legend, monks working for the Byzantine emperor Justinian smuggled silkworm eggs to Constantinople (Istanbul in modern-day Turkey) in 550 AD, concealed inside hollow bamboo walking canes. The Byzantines were as secretive as the Chinese, however, and for many centuries the weaving and trading of silk fabric was a strict imperial monopoly. Then in the seventh century, the Arabs conquered Persia, capturing their magnificent silks in the process. Silk production thus spread through Africa, Sicily and Spain as the Arabs swept through these lands. Andalusia in southern Spain was Europe’s main silk-producing centre in the tenth century. By the thirteenth century, however, Italy had become Europe’s leader in silk production and export. Venetian merchants traded extensively in silk and encouraged silk growers to settle in Italy. Even now, silk processed in the province of Como in northern Italy enjoys an esteemed reputation.

  The nineteenth century and industrialisation saw the downfall of the European silk industry. Cheaper Japanese silk, trade in which was greatly facilitated by the opening of the Suez Canal, was one of the many factors driving the trend. Then in the twentieth century, new manmade fibres, such as nylon, started to be used in what had traditionally been silk products, such as stockings and parachutes. The two world wars, which interrupted the supply of raw material from Japan, also stifled the European silk industry. After the Second World War, Japan’s silk production was restored, with improved production and quality of raw silk. Japan was to remain the world’s biggest producer of raw silk, and practically the only major exporter of raw silk, until the 1970s. However, in more recent decades, China has gradually recaptured its position as the world’s biggest producer and exporter of raw silk and silk yarn. Today, around 125,000 metric tons of silk are produced in the world, and almost two thirds of that production takes place in China.

  Questions 1-9

  Complete the notes below.

  Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

  Write your answers in boxes 1-9 on your answer sheet.

  THE STORY OF SILK

  Early silk production in China

  Around 3000 BC, according to legend:

  - silkworm cocoon fell into emperor’s wife’s 1 __________

  - emperor’s wife invented a 2 __________ to pull out silk fibres

  Only 3 __________ were allowed to produce silk

  Only 4 __________ were allowed to wear silk

  Silk used as a form of 5 __________

  - e.g. farmers’ taxes consisted partly of silk

  Silk used for many purposes

  - e.g. evidence found of 6 __________ made from silk around 168 AD

  Silk reaches rest of world

  Merchants use Silk Road to take silk westward and bring back 7 __________ and precious metals

  550 AD: 8 __________ hide silkworm eggs in canes and take them to Constantinople

  Silk production spreads across Middle East and Europe

  20th century: 9 __________ and other manmade fibres cause decline in silk production

  Questions 10-13

  Do the following statements agree with the information in Reading Passage 1?

  In boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet, write

  TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

  FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

  NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

  10 Gold was the most valuable material transported along the Silk Road.

  11 Most tradesmen only went along certain sections of the Silk Road.

  12 The Byzantines spread the practice of silk production across the West.

  13 Silk yarn makes up the majority of silk currently exported from China.

 

  Question 1

  答案: tea

  關鍵詞: 3000 BC, cocoon, fell into, emperor's wife

  定位原文: 第1段第5句“It just so happened that... ” 這些蠶繭中的一粒掉進了熱茶中并開始松散成為一根細絲。

  解題思路: “3000BC”和“皇帝的妻子”都很好定位,在第一段的第二句中便可看到,但卻偏偏沒有“掉進”這個信息,直到讀者看到第五句中的landed in這個同義表述才能恍然大悟,答案為tea。

  點擊下載劍橋雅思閱讀真題復習資料【附解析】

  Question 2

  答案: reel

  關鍵詞: emperor's wife, invented, pull out silk fibres

  定位原文: 第1段第8句“She also devised a special reel to draw... ”她還設計發(fā)明了一種特殊的卷軸來將蠶繭中的纖維紡成絲線。

  解題思路: 此題的定位距離上一道題不遠,仍是皇帝妻子所做的事。題干說“皇帝的妻子發(fā)明了一個 _____ 來拽出絲綢纖維”,讀者只需回到原文找到devised這個對invented進行同義表述的單詞,即不難發(fā)現(xiàn)答案為reel。

  Question 3

  答案: women

  關鍵詞: only, allowed to produce

  定位原文: 第2段第1句“Originally, silkworm farming …” 起初,桑蠶業(yè)完全是只由女性來進行的,她們要負責種植、收獲和紡織。

  解題思路:此題基本是考査考生對于solely表示only這個意思的認知。題干說“只有被允許生產絲綢”,根據語法還可推知此空格內需填寫名詞的復數形式。定位到原文的solely restricted to即可得到答案women。

  Question 4

  答案: royalty

  關鍵詞: only, allowed to wear

  對應原文: 第2段第2句“Silk quickly grew into a symbol of status, and originally, only …” 成為社會地位的象征,起先只有皇室才能穿。

  解題思路: 此題結構與上一題極其相似,題干說“只有______被允許穿著絲綢”。這次題千里的only一詞倒是原詞重現(xiàn)在文中,不過卻考査考生是否認識be entitled to與be allowed to的同義替換,或者考生也可通過題干中wear與文中clothes的對應確定答案為royalty。

  Question 5

  答案: currency

  關鍵詞: used, a form of, farmers' taxes

  定位原文: 第2段第4、5句“Sometime during …” 到漢朝的某個時段,珍貴到被當做一種貨幣。

  解題思路: 此題的題干本身給出信息不多,“絲綢被用作一種形式的______”;考生也可能并不熟 悉a unit of與a form of的同義替換。但好在下一句的例子提到了更多細節(jié):例如,農民交稅的一部分就是絲綢。利用“農民交稅”這個信息可以更順利地進行定位,答案為currency貨幣。

  點擊下載劍橋雅思閱讀真題復習資料【附解析】

  Question 6

  答案: paper

  關鍵詞: 168AD,made from

  定位原文: 第2段最后1句“The earliest indication of … ”人類最早使用絲質紙的證據發(fā)現(xiàn)于一位貴族的墓中。

  解題思路: 此題中最明顯的定位詞非168AD莫屬。題干說“大約在公元168年發(fā)現(xiàn)了用絲綢制作的的證據”,因此考生需要在定位句中尋找某種以絲綢為材質的物品。對比原文indication(此處意即證據) of silk paper可知答案為paper。

  Question 7

  答案: wool

  關鍵詞: Silk Road, westward, precious metals

  定位原文: 第3段第1句“Demand for this exotic fabric eventually …” 最終催生了“絲綢之路”的貿易路線,且向西輸送絲綢而向東則運來金、銀和毛料。

  解題思路: 此題題干說“商人們利用絲綢之路向西運送絲綢并運______回來和貴重金屬”。定位十分容易,對比原文可知precious metal即文中的gold 和silver,于是答案為另外的物品wool。

  Question 8

  答案: monks

  關鍵詞: hide, canes, Constantinople

  定位原文: 第4段前第3句“According to another legend, monks…” 根據另一個傳說版本,是為拜占庭皇帝工作的和尚們走私偷運了蠶卵。

  解題思路: 此題依然可以利用題干中的數字和大寫輕松定位。題干說 “在公元550年,_____把蠶卵藏在手杖里帶到了君士坦丁堡”,可以推知此題答案必然身份為人,不過考生需分辨清楚發(fā)出smuggled (走私)這個動作的人是一些為拜占庭皇帝工作的僧侶而非在句子中離smuggled這個動詞更近的皇帝本人,答案為monks。

  Question 9

  答案: nylon

  關鍵詞: 20th century, manmade fibres, decline

  定位原文: 第5段的第3句?!癟hen in the twentieth century, new ……” 接下來在20世紀里,新型人造纖維材料,例如尼龍,開始應用在傳統(tǒng)上一直使用絲綢的產品中,例如長筒襪和降落傘。

  解題思路: 此題的定位需先找到“20世紀”這一信息。題干說“ _____和其他人造纖維材料造成了絲綢生產的衰落”,可以推知答案必然為某種具體的人造纖維材料。対比原文只有一種具體人造材料被提及,答案為nylon。

  Question 10

  答案: False

  關鍵詞: Gold, most valuable material, Silk Road

  定位原文: 第3段第2句“It was named the Silk Road after... ” 之所以命名為絲綢之路,是因為運輸了最貴重的商品,比黃金價值更高的“絲綢”。

  解題思路: 原文意思不難理解,絲綢之路之所以名為“絲綢”之路,是以其最有價值的貨品(即絲綢)來命名的,還有定語從句進一步澄清“絲綢被認為比黃金價值更高”,與題干信息相悖。

  Question 11

  答案: True

  關鍵詞: Most tradesmen, certain sections of the Silk Road

  定位原文: 第3段最后一句“Few merchants travelled …” 基本沒有商人走完全程,貨物傳遞都靠很多中間人。

  解題思路: 只需認識merchants這個可以用來替換tradesmen的詞匯即可順利定位,而原文內容說很少有商人會走完整條路線,分號后更是換了種方式再表達一遍:商品大多是由一系列中間經手入來傳遞交接的,與題干內容一致。

  Question 12

  答案: False

  關鍵詞: Byzantines, spread, across the West

  定位原文: 第4段第4句“The Byzantines were as secretive…”

  解題思路: 文章中說“拜占庭人和中國人一樣守秘不宣,在很多個世紀里絲綢料子的紡織和貿易都受到帝國嚴格的把控壟斷”,也就是說拜占庭人并沒有積極地把絲綢生產的做法傳播出去,而是保守了秘密,與題干信息相反。注意:本段第二句中曾經提及,絲綢制作的秘密確實是經由拜占庭帝國而傳播到世界上其他國家去的,但這句表述并不能等同于題干中的“拜占庭人將絲綢生產的做法傳遍西方”,因為后者是在說他們出于主動的意愿去傳播這種方法,而前者則是陳述事實:無論如何,最終絲綢的生產方法確實是經由拜占庭傳播到各地的。二者不能混為一談。

  Question 13

  答案: Not Given

  關鍵詞: Silk yarn, majority, exported from China

  定位原文: 第5段最后兩句“However, in more recent decades, China…”

  解題思路: 原文只說中國在近幾十年成為世界最大的生絲和絲線的生產者和出口國,其產量幾乎占全球絲綢產量的三分之二,并沒有明確提及在這些產品的構成中,絲線是否占到大多數。

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