"The Secret to Silk" S-V Baseline

What is nature's strongest fiber?

• gel

• steel

• thread

• silk

In the section called "Future Uses for Silk," what does the author describe?

• the weight of steel

• things that may be made using silk

• how a spider makes silk

• the different kinds of spider webs

Strong silk may be helpful to people in a number of ways. What evidence from the text supports this statement?

• Silk may be used for making protective clothes and to repair bones and ligaments.

• A ligament is a strong tissue in a person's body that holds bones in place.

• A spider's body has a little sac where it stores tiny blobs of silk in water.

• Many spiders weave round webs made of silk called orb webs.

Based on the information in the text, how did scientists learn to make a stronger silk?

• Scientists learned to make silk from steel.

• Scientists learned to make silk from old spider webs.

• Scientists learned to make silk by examining the way spiders make silk.

• Scientists learned to make silk out of spiders.

What is the main idea of this text?

• Scientists have learned from spiders how to make strong silk.

• Scientists have been making silk for years.

• Spiders can weave many different types of webs.

• Police officers and soldiers need special clothes to protect them.

Read these sentences from the text. "Silk is nature's strongest fiber, or thread. Believe it or not, silk is stronger than its equal weight in steel!"

Why might the author have started the second sentence with the phrase, "Believe it or not"?

• to highlight the fact that a spider's silk is a fiber.

• to emphasize how unusual it might seem that silk can be stronger than steel.

• to show the reader that steel is actually not very strong.

• to illustrate how most people are scared of spiders and their webs.

Which of the following is NOT a way that strong silk may be used?

• making clothes that protect police officers

• to repair bones

• making a belt

• repair ligaments