Wonder Webs
Spider webs are more than homes, and they are ingenious traps. And the worlds best web spinner may be the Golden Orb Weaver spider. The female Orb Weaver spins a web of fibers thin enough to be invisible to insect prey, yet __1__ enough to snare a flying bird without breaking.
The secret of the webs strength? A type of super-resilient __2__ called dragline. When the female spider is ready to __3__ the webs spokes and frame, she uses her legs to draw the airy thread out through a hollow nozzle in her belly. Dragline is not sticky, so the spider can race back and forth along __4__ to spin the webs trademark spiral.
Unlike some spiders that weave a new web every day, a Golden Orb Weaver __5__ her handiwork until it falls apart, sometimes not for two years. The silky thread is five times stronger than steel by weight and absorbs the force of an impact three times better than Kevlar, a high-strength human-made __6__ used in bullet-proof vests. And thanks to its high tensile strength, or the ability to resist breaking under the pulling force called tension, a single strand can stretch up to 40 percent longer than its original __7__ and snap back as well as new. No human-made fiber even comes __8__.
It is no __9__ manufacturers are clamoring for spider silk. In the consumer pipeline: High-performance fabrics for athletes and stockings that never run. Think parachute cords and suspension bridge cables. A steady __10__ of spider silk would be worth billions of dollars but how to produce it? Harvesting silk on spider farms does not __11__ because the territorial arthropods have a tendency to devour their neighbors.
Now, scientists at the biotechnology company Nexia are spinning artificial silk modeled after Golden Orb dragline. The __12__ step: extract silk-making genes from the spiders. Next, implant the genes into goat egg cells. The nanny goats that grow from the eggs secrete dragline silk proteins in their __13__. The young goats pass on the silk-making gene without __14__ help from us, says Nexia president Jeffrey Turner. Nexia is still perfecting the spinning process, but they hope artificial spider silk will soon be snagging customers __15__ the real thing snags bugs.
1. A. tough B. soft C. large D. smooth
2. A. cloth B. silk C. nylon D. wool
3. A. repair B. pull C. move D. weave
4. A. him B. her C. it D. those
5. A. refixes B. reproduces C. remakes D. reuses
6. A. metal B. mass C. material D. model
7. A. bredth B. length C. height D. strength
8. A. close B. well C. open D. awake
9. A. hurry B. worry C. wonder D. use
10. A. shipment B. supply C. run D. exchange
11. A. run B. go C. deal D. work
12. A. previous B. foremost C. first D. front
13. A. milk B. meat C. lungs D. muscle
14. A. no B. any C. some D. many
15. A. As fast as B. as gently as C. as fully as D. as little as
答案 A B D C D C B A C B D C A B A
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雅思常考十种场景词汇:度假/日程介绍场景
关于乘机旅行的雅思词汇
20种有效记忆雅思词汇的方法
每日雅思词汇:奥运词汇-拳击举重级别
雅思分类词汇:艺术词汇
雅思阅读分类词汇:教育
雅思分类词汇:职业及工作词汇
每日雅思词汇:奥运词汇-排球
雅思口语词汇:爱好、购物词汇
每日雅思词汇:水上运动
雅思分类词汇:农业相关词汇
雅思分类词汇:计算机词汇
雅思备考中需要知道的三类词汇
每日雅思词汇:动物词汇大集合
每日雅思词汇:奥运词汇-羽毛球
雅思分类词汇:医学词汇
每日雅思词汇:“各种笑”的表达
雅思分类词汇:体育词汇
每日雅思词汇:易拼错的单词
雅思口语词汇:旅行、就餐词汇
雅思分类词汇:机场指示篇
每日雅思词汇:“流行疫病”相关词汇
每日雅思词汇:住房环境
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雅思常考十种场景词汇:教学场景
雅思分类词汇:足球词汇
雅思分类词汇:超市食品词汇
雅思常考十种场景词汇:租房/课外研究场景
雅思分类词汇:常见花卉
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