On the history of the pencil

 

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the lead pencil is that it is not lead at all.

And it is not a pencil. The "lead" is actually graphite from the Greek word "to write." The word "pencil" is from Latin. The first pencils were fine'or stiff brushes of hair. By one means or another, man has been writing for thousands of years. The Greeks and Romans used metallic lead for drawing faint lines. But it was not until around 1400 that graphite, the main part of the modern репей, first appeared. And for a long time it was used without any covering.

About a century and a half later, in 1564, a high wind blew over a heavy oak tree near Cumberland, England. The earth revealed a slab of black rock which was actually a huge deposit of almost pure graphite. Shepherds used it to brand their sheep. George II controlled the graphite by declaring it a crime to ship it out of the country.

This graphite could be used in its natural state for writing. Seeing the find as a rich prize, merchants cut it into sticks. They sold it for writing purposes. By present-day standards, however, it was far from satisfactory for writing. For one thing, the graphite's hardness could not be changed.

Napoleon Bonaparte had a finger in the development of the modern pencil industry. Cut off from English pencils, he was stuck with his own impure French graphite. Never one to accept second best, Napoleon hired Nicholas Conte to solve the problem. Conte found the answer in 1795. By mixing refined graphite powder with clay, then heating it, he produced a firm hard lead. German researchers later perfected the method. The lead pencil was launched on its way to general use.

William Monroe, the Concord, Massachusetts, cabinet-maker, made the first pencils in the United States. The War of 1812 halted imports of pencils. Monroe developed machinery to make wooden slats. Each one was grooved to half the thickness of a pencil lead. Two slats were glued together with the lead between. The method is still being used today. Monroe's first American-made lead pencils - about twenty five of them - were sold to a Boston hardware dealer in July, 1812. But it was not until many yeas later that American pencils began to sell as well as European brands.

Judging by the ever-increasing demand for it, today the lead pencil - the simplest, most convenient and least expensive of all writing instruments - is one of the most used pieces of merchandise in the world, the largest consumers being business and industry, educational and government institutions.

(Word count 441)

Answer the questions to text 1:

 

1. The author states that the "lead"

1) was used in ancient times to draw lines

2) originates from Greek

3) is a soft metal

4) is a modern equivalent for the Latin "pencil"

In medieval England graphite was                                                                                                

1) exported all over the world

2) placed in wooden slats

3) used mainly by shepherds

4) grinded by pencil makers to obtain a writing instrument!

 

The first producer of a firm lead was                        

1) Napoleon Bonaparte

2) Nicholas Conte

3) George II

4) William Monroe

The pencil-making method used by William Monroe

1) is in use today

2) was used only for a short time

3) was copied by the French

4) was an imitation of a German method

Which of the following is true?

1) The first lead pencils made by the Greeks were fine.

2) The main part of the modern pencil, graphite, appeared about 1400 B.C.

3) A hurricane in Cumberland, England in 1564 helped to produce pure graphite.

4) Over two dozens of American pencils were first sold in the early 19 century.

 

 

 

ТЕСТ

Выберите единственный правильный вариант из предложенных:

 

 

1. Philippa heard the result of the election when she _____ to work, so she phoned me when she _____ there.

1) drives, gets

2) was driving, got

3) drove, will get

4) was driving, has got

 

2. Alison never _____ newspapers in the morning.

1) is reading

2) read

3) has been reading

4) reads

 

3. "Who _____ a car at the time of the accident?" the officer asked.

1) is driving

2) drove

3) was driving

4) has driven

 

4. The _____ economy is in crisis. Unemployment _____ .

1) country's, is rising

2) country, rises

3) countrys', rose

4) country, has risen

 

5. When they _____ to school, they _____ straight up to the classroom.

1) have come, went

2) came, went

3) come, went

4) came, go

 

6. I'm going to give the cat some food. It _____ on the doorstep for hours. I'm sure, it_____.

1) was sitting, was starving

2) sat, is starving

3) has been sitting, is starving

4) was sitting, starved

 

7. She _____ polite and she is only pretending to admire your car.

1) was been

2) will be

3) had been

4) is being

 

 

8. Peter rarely ____ time to visit his parents these days, but he _____ lunch with them tomorrow because it's his father's birthday.

1) had, has

2) is having, will have

3) has, is having

4) has, has had

 

9. They _____ to solve the problem since last Tuesday, and still, they've got no clue.

1) are trying

2) have been trying

3) were trying

4) have tried

 

10. Bill admitted that if he _____ the instructions he _____ what to do.

1) had, would know

2) has, would have known

3) had had, will know

4) had, knows

 

11. Jane explained that she _____ not to buy the house because it ____ on the main road.

1) decided, is

2) had decided, has been

3) has decided, is

4) had decided, was

 

12. The travel agent asked me whether I _____ to go by air or by sea.

1) wanted

2) want

3) had been wanting

4) will want

 

13. Tom ____ so early but he ____-, ____ and _____ his breakfast so quietly that I ____ a thing.

1) gets up; is washing, shaving; having; am not hearing 

2) is getting up; is washing, shaving; having; am not hearing 

3) gets up, washes, shaves; has breakfast; don’t hear

4) has got up; washed, shaved; had ; don’t hear

 

14. I’m restless. I think I ________ for along walk.

       1) am going

       2) am going to go

       3) will go

       4) will have gone  

 

15. By the time she _______ finished doing her homework, it ______ dark outside.

      1) will have, is

      2) -, had been

      3) has, was being dark

      4) has, is

 

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