38. When was the wool ready for weaving?
(A) the yarn is spun into a wool ball
(B) the wool is twisted with a spindle into a long thread
(C) a ball of wool is spun into the yarn
(D) the yarn is ready to be pulled onto the spindle

(取自google翻譯)

Today, when we want new clothes, we can go to a clothing store and buy whatever you like. But for people two or three hundred years ago, getting new clothes was not so easy. Not only did they make their own clothing, but sometimes people wove their own cloth at home. And if they owed their own sheep, they even spun the wool into yarn themselves. 

如今，我們想穿新衣服，可以去服飾店買任何喜歡的衣服。但對兩三百年前的人們來說，買新衣服可不是件容易的事。他們不但自己做衣服，有時還會在家自己織布。如果他們養羊，甚至會自己把羊毛紡成紗線。

    Wool cannot just be taken from the sheep and spun. First, it must be cleaned and then carded. In a large family, carding was usually the children’s job, because it is easy but tiresome. Carding is done with two wide combs that have rows of steel teeth. The person carding puts a piece of wool on one comb, then pulls the other comb across the wool again and again. This combing makes the wool fibers straight and smooth so they can be spun. 

羊毛不能直接從羊身上取下來紡。首先，必須清洗乾淨，然後梳理。在大家庭裡，梳理通常是孩子的工作，因為這很容易，但也很累。梳理是用兩把寬梳子來完成的，梳子上有一排排鋼齒。梳理的人把一根羊毛放在一把梳子上，然後用另一把梳子反覆梳理。這種梳理使羊毛纖維變得筆直光滑，以便紡紗。

   Finally, the mother or older sister of the family could use the wool for spinning. Spinning just means twisting and stretching the fibers into yarn. You have spun yarn if you have ever pulled and twisted a cotton ball into a long string. Usually, though, a spinning wheel helps make the pulling and twisting easier. The spinner holds the wool in her hands and twists one end unto the yarn already on the spindle, or long winding stick. The spinning wheel turns the spindle, pulling the wool into yarn and winding it onto the spindle at the same time. Finally, the yarn is ready for weaving. 

最後，家裡的母親或姊姊可以用這些羊毛紡線。紡線就是把纖維撚成紗線。如果你曾經把棉球拉長並撚成細繩，那你就紡過紗。不過，通常情況下，紡車可以幫助你更容易拉長和撚線。紡紗工人手裡拿著羊毛，把一端捻到紡錘（或長繞線棒）上已經纏好的紗線上。紡車轉動紡錘，把羊毛拉成紗線，同時把它繞到紡錘上。最後，紗線就可以織布了。

   Today, machines can spin yarn much faster than people can. But in some places, people still make their own yarn because they love the old art of spinning.

如今，機器紡紗的速度比人工快得多。但在某些地方，人們仍然自己紡紗，因為他們熱愛古老的紡紗藝術。

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When was the wool ready for weaving?
(A) the yarn is spun into a wool ball
(B) the wool is twisted with a spindle into a long thread
(C) a ball of wool is spun into the yarn
(D) the yarn is ready to be pulled onto the spindle

什麼時候羊毛可以織布了？
(A) 紗線紡成毛線球
(B) 羊毛被紡錘捻成長線
(C) 毛線球紡成紗線
(D) 紗線準備拉到紡錘上