Thoughts and Notions

HIGH BEGINNER READING PRACTICE

 Thoughts and Notions

LESSON
1

THE ZIPPER

PRE-READING QUESTIONS
……………………………………….

1. Are you wearing a zipper?

2. What do you do when you break your zipper?

3. Do you have clothing without zippers? How does it close?

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 Thoughts and Notions

1
The Zipper

The zipper is a wonderful invention. How did people ever live without zippers? They are
very common, so we forgot that they are wonderful. They are very strong, but they open and
close very easily. They come in many colors and sizes.

In the 1890s, people in the United States wore high shoes with long row of buttons.
Women’s clothes often had rows of buttons too. People wanted an easier way to put on and
take off clothes.

Whitcomb L. Judson invented the zipper in 1893. He was an engineer in Chicago. He

called the zipper a slide fastener. However, it didn’t stay closed very well. This was
embarrassing, and people didn’t buy many of them. Then Dr. Gideon Sundback from Sweden
solved this problem.

A zipper has three parts: 1. there are dozens of metal or plastic hooks (called teeth) on
two rows. 2. These are fastened to two strips of cloth. The cloth strips are flexible. They bend
easily. 3. A fastener slides the other way, it takes the hooks apart.

Dr. Sundback put the hooks on the strips of cloth. The cloth holds all the hooks in place.
They don’t come apart very easily. This solved the problem of the zippers.

row – line
dozens – a dozen = 12

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 Thoughts and Notions

A. Vocabulary

Put the right word in the blanks. The sentences are from the text.

zipper embarrassing hooks dozens

sizes fastener flexible slide
bend apart strips row

1. In the 1890s, people in the United States wore high shoes with long
______________ of buttons.
2. There are ______________of metal or plastic ______________ (called teeth) in two
rows.
3. The ______________ is a wonderful invention.
4. The cloth strips are ______________.
5. He called the zipper a ______________.
6. When it slides the other way, it takes the hooks ______________.
7. This was ______________ and people didn’t buy many of them.
8. They ______________ easily.
9. These are fastened to two ______________ cloth.

B. Vocabulary (new context)

Put the right word in the blanks.

embarrassed strips flexible zippers

hooks rows fasteners bend
apart dozen slide size

1. Icy roads are dangerous because cars ______________ on them.

2. Pam cut a piece of paper into ______________.
3. Sometimes your face gets red when you feel ______________.
4. A pencil is not ______________. Paper is.
5. Hooks, buttons, and zippers are all ______________.
6. American supermarkets sell eggs by the ______________.
7. Tony and George had an apartment together, but now they live ______________.
8. Students sit in a circle in some classes. They sit in ______________ in others.
9. People catch fish with ______________.
10. You ______________ your knees when you sit down.
11. Most pants and jackets have ______________.

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 Thoughts and Notions

C. Vocabulary Review

Put the right word in the blanks.

leaves axe froze spirits

map shells might history
canoe current over death
navy jungle independent shoot

1. Mary’s father was in the ______________ for twenty years.

2. Did you ever cut wood with an ______________?
3. What time does the meeting begin, and when will it be ______________?
4. Carl put water in the freezer part of the refrigerator. It ______________.
5. Giraffes live in grasslands. Some tigers live in the ______________.
6. Carlos had to go back to his country because of a ______________ in his family.
7. Most trees have hundreds of ______________.
8. The Labrador ______________ brings cold water from eastern Canada to the east
coast of the United States.
9. Students usually have to memorize dates when they study ______________.
10. Ann and Paula took a long ______________ trip on a quiet river during their
vacation.
11. Tom is very ______________. He likes to think and do things for himself.
12. Soldiers have to learn to ______________ guns.

D. Comprehension

Put a circle around the letter of the best answer.

1. Zippers open and close by ______________.

a. Shooting
b. Sliding
c. Bending
d. Choosing

2. The hooks are ______________.

a. Plastic
b. Metal
c. Cloth
d. A and B

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 Thoughts and Notions

3. Mr. Judson didn’t sell many zippers because ______________.

a. It was hard to open and close them
b. People liked rows of buttons
c. They had cloth strips
d. They came open very easily

4. Mr. Judson was an ______________.

a. engineer
b. inventor
c. American
d. A, B, and C

5. Dr. Sundback was ______________.

a. a Swede
b. from Chicago
c. an American
d. B and C

6. A zipper has two ______________ of cloth.

a. rows
b. fasteners
c. strips
d. buttons

7. ______________ are flexible.

a. The hooks
b. The rows of buttons
c. The fasteners
d. The strips of cloth

8. Dr. Sundback ______________.

a. invented the zipper
b. made the zipper better
c. invented the button hook
d. invented the slide fastener

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 Thoughts and Notions

E. Questions

The asterisk (*) means you have to think of the answer. You cannot find it in the text.

1. Why do we forget that zippers are wonderful?

2. Are zippers strong?
3. What kind of shoes did Americans wear in the 1890s?
4. Who invented the zipper? When did he invent it?
5. Why is slide fastener a good name for a zipper?*
6. Why were the first zippers embarrassing?
7. What country was Dr. Sundback from?
8. Describe a zipper. How does it work?
9. What part of the zipper is flexible?
10. What did Dr. Sundback do to make zippers better?
11. What is a newer kind of fastener than the zipper?*

F. Main Idea

Which is the main idea of this chapter? Choose one.

1. A zipper has hooks, cloth strips, and a slide fastener.

2. People didn’t like the first zippers.
3. Mr. Judson and Dr. Sundback gave us a wonderful invention, the zipper.