Spiders and Their Webs - Quiz

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca

Spider silk is introduced through a vivid strength comparison, then explained step by step from spinnerets in the spider’s body to the different functions of multiple silk types. The passage contrasts orb weavers that build sticky, bead-dotted trap spirals with hunters like wolf and jumping spiders that rely on vision and quick pounces. It also covers why researchers want spider silk for armor, medical uses, and flexible cables, plus its value as natural pest control.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Reading Questions

Key Details and Structure

Orb Weaver Web Mechanics

Research Interest and Purpose

Imagine a building material five times stronger than steel of the same weight, so light you could stretch a strand around the whole planet and it would weigh less than a bar of soap. You are picturing spider silk, the same shimmering thread you brush off your porch every October. Around Halloween, people drape fake cottony webs across fences and doorways, but the real thing is a feat of engineering that scientists still cannot fully copy. Look closely at a dew-covered web in the morning light and you are seeing one of nature's oldest inventions. That oldest invention starts inside the spider's body, in organs called spinnerets located at the rear of the abdomen. A spider can have several spinnerets, each pushing out liquid protein that hardens into thread the instant it hits the air. What is remarkable is that many spiders make more than one kind of silk from the same body: a stiff thread for the frame, a stretchy thread for the spiral, and even a wrapping silk for storing food. Some species can spin seven different types of silk, choosing the right one for each job like a builder reaching into a toolbox. Reaching into that toolbox, an orb weaver builds the classic wheel-shaped web you probably picture when you hear the word. It first lays down strong, dry spokes that radiate from the center, a scaffold that does not stick to anything. Then it spirals outward laying a second thread dotted with tiny beads of glue, and this sticky spiral is the trap that holds insects. Here is the clever part: the spider remembers which threads are safe and walks only on the dry ones, and its legs are coated with an oily substance that keeps it from gluing itself down. Not every spider bothers with that careful construction at all. Wolf spiders and jumping spiders build no snares, instead hunting their prey on foot with sharp eyesight and quick pounces. Jumping spiders can leap many times their own body length, roughly like you clearing a school bus from a standing start. These wanderers still produce silk, but they use it as a safety line, trailing a dragline behind them the way a rock climber trails a rope. That rope-like strength is exactly why researchers are so interested in the stuff. Engineers have studied spider silk hoping to design lightweight body armor, surgical stitches, and cables that bend without snapping. The trouble is that spiders are hard to farm, since crowding them together tends to end with fewer spiders, so labs have inserted spider genes into goats and bacteria to harvest silk proteins another way. No factory has yet matched the delicate spinnerets that a spider carries around for free. Free pest control might be the most underrated gift these builders offer. A single spider can eat hundreds of insects in a year, and together the world's spiders consume an estimated 400 to 800 million tons of prey annually, more than the total weight of every human on Earth. So the next time a paper web decorates your classroom, remember that the living version is a hunter, an engineer, and a silent helper all at once. The scariest thing about spiders, it turns out, is how much we would miss them if they were gone. Spiders and Their Webs Name: | Solve each problem.
Use the article to answer the question.
1) Which comparison does the author use to describe the strength of spider silk?
A. It is five times stronger than steel of the same weight.
B. It is five times heavier than steel of the same length.
C. It is stronger than steel but only when kept wet.
D. It is as strong as steel but stretches half as far. | | | | | Answers
1.
2.
3. | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2) How does the author use the opening sentence to build the passage's structure?
A. By listing the seven silk types a spider can spin.
B. By starting with a striking comparison before revealing the material is spider silk.
C. By summarizing every idea the a

FAQs

How does the opening comparison help structure the passage?

It starts with a striking strength comparison, then reveals that the material is spider silk.

Why can an orb weaver walk across its own web without getting stuck?

It steps only on the dry threads, while its oily legs resist the glue on the sticky spiral.

What is the author’s main purpose in the final paragraph?

To emphasize that spiders help people by eating enormous numbers of insects.

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca