II. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions. Write your answers on your paper.
One day more than 200 years ago a man complained to his doctor that he had a ball in his
throat. "It goes up and down when I breathe", he said. The doctor laughed at him and said, "There is
nothing in your throat".
Soon after the man died and the doctor discovered that there was a steel ball in his throat. This
unfortunate man worked in needles factory and in the process of grinding steel to make the needles, he
had breathed in particles of it which soon accumulated and formed a lump in his throat. Ever since that
time workers in factories producing needles have had to wear masks to protect themselves.
Needles were first used by the Stone Age man about 50.000 years ago to stitch together pieces
of pelt to make clothes. At the time primitive men used the bones of animals and fish, and even thorns,
to make 'needles'- rough stone tools with a hole in one end. Later the Romans and the British used iron
and bronze for making needles.
Today's needles are made from steel wire. When you examine a needle it looks quite a simple
object but there are fifteen different stages a steel wire has to go through before it becomes a needle.
Let us look at some of them.
First the worker cuts a ~teel wire into the length of two needles. Then he straightens out the wire
and sharpens it at both ends. At the center he pierces two eyes: this forms two needles joined end to
end. Usually machines are used to break up the needles; only very good quality needles are broken by
hand.
The needles are by no means ready yet. They must go into a special machine which removes the
rough edges from around the eye of each needle. After this the worker puts all of them into a small
furnace called a 'muffle', and when the needles are red hot he plunges them into a container of cold oil.
This process is repeated many times to harden the needles and give them elasticity. Washing, rolling
and polishing follow, after which needles are put into packets for sale. ·
You can see needles everywhere today, in your home and in the hospital where they are used as
surgical instruments. Compasses and record-players too require different types of needles. The Stone
Age man would indeed be amazed if he could see how many uses we have made of his simple
invention.
1. Why did the doctor laugh at the man who went to him with a complaint?
2. Was the doctor right in laughing at the man? Why?
3. How had the steel ball formed inside the man's throat?
4. Why do workers in needles factories wear masks?
5. Why are the needles heated and then cooled many times?
Loga
Sinh Học lớp 12
