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 ______ of several mulberry trees.

She collected a number of cocoons and sat down to ______.

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 ______ a fine thread.

Silk is a ______, smooth material produced from the cocoons – soft protective shells – that are made by mulberry silkworms (insect larvae).

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 ______.

She also devised a special ______ to draw the fibres from the cocoon into a single thread so that they would be strong enough to be woven into fabric.

Originally, silkworm farming was ______ restricted to women, and it was they who were responsible for the growing, harvesting and weaving.

Originally, silkworm farming was solely ______ 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 ______ have clothes made of silk.

Sometime during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), silk was so ______ that it was also used as a unit of currency.

Sometime during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), silk was so prized that it was also used as a unit of ______.

The earliest indication of silk paper being used was discovered in the ______ of a noble who is estimated to have died around 168 AD.

The earliest indication of silk paper being used was discovered in the tomb of a ______ who is estimated to have died around 168 AD.

It was named the Silk Road after its most ______ commodity, which was considered to be worth more than gold.

It was named the Silk Road after its most precious ______, which was considered to be worth more than gold.

From there, the ______ was shipped across the Mediterranean Sea.

Demand for this exotic fabric eventually created the lucrative trade ______ now known as the Silk Road, taking silk westward and bringing gold, silver and wool to the East.

Few merchants travelled the ______ route; goods were handled mostly by a series of middlemen.

The Byzantines were as secretive as the Chinese, however, and for many centuries the weaving and trading of silk fabric was a ______ imperial monopoly.

The Byzantines were as secretive as the Chinese, however, and for many centuries the weaving and trading of silk fabric was a strict ______ monopoly.

The Byzantines were as secretive as the Chinese, however, and for many centuries the weaving and trading of silk fabric was a strict imperial ______.

The nineteenth century and industrialisation saw the ______ of the European silk industry.