Reading Comprehension • Saddleback Educational Publishing ©2002 84 3 Watson, Irvine, CA 92618•Phone (888)SDL-BACK•www.sdlback.com
Na m e : ___ _
Directions:Date:Read the questions below. Keep the topic sentence in mind as you read the story.
Then go back and answer the questions.Here’s a tip. Identifying the topic sentence is like
asking, “What’s it all about?”- What is the topic sentence? __
- What secret did the Chinese keep? ____
- What do silk farmers grow? __
- What word means a period of 1,000 years? ____
- Did the Chinese make much money in the silk trade? ___
- What do silkworms consume? ____
- What word is the opposite of synthetic? ___
The Story of Silk
Silk cloth has been an expensive and prized material for
thousands of years. At first, only the Chinese knew how to
make silk, and they kept their secret for a very long time.
Other nations sought the remarkable material, and China
carried on a profitable trade for well over a millennium.
So what was the secret? Where did the Chinese get this
treasured fiber that is stronger, lighter, and warmer than
cotton, and which can be dyed to the richest of colors? The
“thread” used to make silk cloth is actually made by
worms! Silkworms spin the shiny fiber to form their
cocoons. The silk is “harvested” by unravelling the cocoon.
It is then treated to increase its strength and make it
suitable for weaving.
Like other natural fibers used for making cloth, silk is
produced on farms. Silkworms are raised in controlled
environments. They are given fresh mulberry leaves every
couple of hours. After 4-5 weeks of almost constant consumption, the worm has grown up
to 70 times its original size. It then stops eating and spins its cocoon. This takes about three
days. The silk farmers can then harvest the fibers and begin to process them for use. The
silk farm, therefore, is not very different in concept from a cotton farm.
Though today many items that were once made mainly of silk are made of nylon or other
synthetics, silk is still a prized and treasured material.