The Development of the Silk Industry
Read The Development of the Silk Industry and check the IELTS Reading answers. When silk was first discovered in China over 4,500 years ago, it was reserved exclusively for the use of the emperor, his close relations and the very highest of his dignitaries. Within the palace, the emperor is believe…
Passage preview
When silk was first discovered in China over 4,500 years ago, it was reserved exclusively for the use of the emperor, his close relations and the very highest of his dignitaries. Within the palace, the emperor is believed to have worn a robe of white silk; outside, he, his principal wife, and the heir to the throne wore yellow, the colour of the earth.
Vocabulary from this passage
13 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- cease verb
To stop happening or existing, or to stop doing or being something; typical of formal writing.
The factory ceased production in 1998 after demand for its products collapsed.
- confine verb
To keep something within certain limits so that it belongs to or affects only a particular group or place.
In the past, higher education was largely confined to the children of wealthy families.
- cultivation noun
The growing or raising of plants or organisms, such as crops or silkworms, for human use.
The cultivation of rice requires large amounts of water and careful management of the soil.
- dignitary noun
A person of high rank or official position, especially in a government or a royal court.
Several foreign dignitaries attended the opening ceremony of the new national museum.
- exclusively adverb
Only for one particular person, group or purpose, and not shared with or available to anyone else.
The archive is reserved exclusively for registered researchers with written permission from the university.
- garment noun
A single item of clothing, such as a coat, dress or robe, used especially in formal or descriptive writing.
Archaeologists recovered fragments of woollen garments preserved in the frozen soil of the burial site.
- heir to the throne noun
The person legally entitled to become the next king, queen or emperor when the current ruler dies.
As heir to the throne, the young prince was educated in law and diplomacy.
- highly sought after adjective
Very much wanted or in great demand because of rarity, quality or usefulness.
Graduates with strong data skills are highly sought after by employers in every sector.
- imperial adjective
Relating to an empire or to an emperor and his rule, court or government.
The imperial court controlled trade routes and taxed every caravan passing through its territory.
- manuscript noun
A document or book written by hand, especially one produced before the invention of printing.
Scholars spent years translating the medieval manuscript discovered in the monastery library.
- monopoly noun
Complete control over the supply or production of a product or service by one group, country or company.
The state telephone company lost its monopoly when private competitors entered the market.
- precious commodity noun
A valuable product or resource that is in high demand and can be bought, sold or traded.
In many dry regions, clean drinking water has become a precious commodity.
- undercut verb
To sell goods or services at a lower price than a competitor, weakening that competitor's position in the market.
Cheap imports undercut local producers, forcing several small farms out of business.
Answers with explanations
- 1. white
The note says the emperor wore silk of a certain kind **indoors**, so the gap needs an **adjective** describing the silk. In the first paragraph, the phrase **Within the palace** matches 'indoors', and there the emperor 'is believed to have worn a robe of **white** silk'. The word fits directly before 'silk' and keeps to the one-word limit. 'Yellow' is a trap: it was the colour worn **outside** the palace, so it does not match 'indoors'. Answer: white.
- 2. paper
The gap ends a list of industrial uses of silk: musical instruments, fishing string and one more item, so it needs a **noun**. The second paragraph gives the same list in the same order: 'musical instruments, as **string for fishing**, and even as the world’s first **luxury paper**'. The third item is paper. 'Luxury paper' would break the **one-word limit**, while 'paper' alone completes the list correctly. Answer: paper.
- 2-3: A
2: The gap ends a list of industrial uses of silk: musical instruments, fishing string and one more item, so it needs a **noun**. The second paragraph gives the same list in the same order: 'musical instruments, as **string for fishing**, and even as the world’s first **luxury paper**'. The third item is paper. 'Luxury paper' would break the **one-word limit**, while 'paper' alone completes the list correctly. Answer: paper.
3: The note needs a **plural noun** for something paid with silk, separate from 'wages and rewards'. In the third paragraph, 'Farmers paid their **taxes** in grain and silk', while the same sentence says silk was used 'to pay civil servants' (the **wages**) and 'to reward subjects' (the **rewards**). So the remaining kind of payment is taxes. The word fits 'payment of' and keeps to the one-word limit. Answer: taxes.
- 3. taxes
The note needs a **plural noun** for something paid with silk, separate from 'wages and rewards'. In the third paragraph, 'Farmers paid their **taxes** in grain and silk', while the same sentence says silk was used 'to pay civil servants' (the **wages**) and 'to reward subjects' (the **rewards**). So the remaining kind of payment is taxes. The word fits 'payment of' and keeps to the one-word limit. Answer: taxes.
- 3-4: C
3: The note needs a **plural noun** for something paid with silk, separate from 'wages and rewards'. In the third paragraph, 'Farmers paid their **taxes** in grain and silk', while the same sentence says silk was used 'to pay civil servants' (the **wages**) and 'to reward subjects' (the **rewards**). So the remaining kind of payment is taxes. The word fits 'payment of' and keeps to the one-word limit. Answer: taxes.
4: The note says silk **replaced** something as a **unit of value**, so the gap needs a noun naming the earlier standard. The third paragraph explains that 'Values were calculated in lengths of silk as they had **previously** been calculated in weight of **gold**.' 'Previously' shows that gold was the old measure and silk took its place. 'Weight' is not the answer, because it is a way of measuring, not the thing that was replaced. Answer: gold.
- 4. gold
The note says silk **replaced** something as a **unit of value**, so the gap needs a noun naming the earlier standard. The third paragraph explains that 'Values were calculated in lengths of silk as they had **previously** been calculated in weight of **gold**.' 'Previously' shows that gold was the old measure and silk took its place. 'Weight' is not the answer, because it is a way of measuring, not the thing that was replaced. Answer: gold.
- 5. foreign
The gap comes before 'trade', so it needs an **adjective** describing the kind of trade. The note's 'soon' matches **Before long** in the third paragraph, where silk 'became a currency used in trade with **foreign** countries'. 'Currency' matches 'used as payment', and 'trade with foreign countries' becomes 'foreign trade' in the note. The adjective is copied from the passage and keeps to the one-word limit. Answer: foreign.
- 6. mummy
The note is about **1070 BC** in **Egypt**, so scan the fourth paragraph for that date. It says 'An Egyptian **mummy** with a silk thread in her hair, dating from 1070 BC, has been discovered'. The note's 'hair of a ... contained silk' paraphrases 'with a silk **thread** in her hair', so the gap needs the singular noun naming whose hair it was. 'Mummy' fits after 'a' and is one word. Answer: mummy.
- 7. caves
The note refers to **1015 AD** in **north-west China**, which leads to the end of the fourth paragraph. There, Buddhist monks 'had **sealed** more than ten thousand manuscripts and silk paintings, silk banners and textiles in **caves** near Dunhuang'. 'Sealed' matches 'hidden', and the silk paintings, banners and textiles are the 'silk objects'. The gap after 'inside' needs a plural noun for the place, and 'caves' is the one word the passage gives. Answer: caves.
- 8. TRUE
The statement claims that the Romans' **first sight** of silk made them afraid. The fifth paragraph says the first Europeans to 'set eyes upon' silk were Roman legions, and that at a battle the soldiers 'were so **startled** by the bright silken banners of the enemy that they **fled in panic**'. Running away in panic shows fear, so the passage supports the statement. It is not FALSE, since nothing contradicts it, and not NOT GIVEN, because the soldiers' reaction is described directly. Answer: TRUE.
- 9. NOT GIVEN
The statement is about the **quality** of Chinese silk imported by the early Romans and whether it **varied widely**. The fifth paragraph says Chinese silks were 'widely worn by the rich and noble families of Rome' and that the price stayed high, but it says nothing about differences in quality among the silk the Romans bought. 'Widely worn' describes how many people wore silk, not how its quality varied. The passage neither confirms nor contradicts the claim, so it is not TRUE or FALSE. Answer: NOT GIVEN.
- 10. FALSE
The statement says the **Byzantine emperor** got silkworm eggs from the **Chinese emperor**. The seventh paragraph says that **two monks** from Constantinople came to 'their emperor’s court with silkworm eggs which they had **obtained secretly**' and hidden in bamboo walking sticks. So the Byzantine emperor received the eggs from his own monks, and the eggs were taken in secret, not given by the Chinese ruler. This directly contradicts the statement, so it is FALSE rather than NOT GIVEN. Answer: FALSE.
- 11. FALSE
The statement claims the price of **high-grade** Chinese silk fell because of Middle-Eastern competition. The seventh paragraph says the new Byzantine industry undercut the market only for **ordinary-grade** Chinese silk. It then adds, with 'However', that **high quality** silk textiles from China 'continued to achieve **high prices** in the West'. The price of the best silk therefore did not fall, which directly contradicts the statement, so the answer is FALSE, not NOT GIVEN. Answer: FALSE.
- 12. TRUE
The statement compares dates: silk was produced in the **Middle East** several centuries before it was produced in **Europe**. The seventh paragraph says 'Around **550 AD** silk production reached the Middle East', and the Persians had mastered silk weaving by the sixth century. In contrast, 'it wasn’t until the **13th century** that Italy began silk production', and only after that did it spread through Europe. A gap of about seven centuries agrees with 'several centuries', so the passage supports the statement. Answer: TRUE.
- 13. FALSE
The statement says global silk production has **declined** in recent years. The last paragraph says the opposite: 'World silk production has **approximately doubled** during the **last 30 years**', even though manmade fibres have replaced some uses of silk. It adds that China dramatically increased its production after the late 1970s. Doubling is a rise, not a fall, so the passage directly contradicts the statement; it is FALSE, not NOT GIVEN. Answer: FALSE.