631 how to make silk cloth The first diagram illustrates the life cycle of the silkworm, which are basically four stages. First of fall, the moth would lay some eggs on leaves, where those eggs become silkworm larva and feed on the mulberry leaf after 10 days. Then, it takes 4 to 6 weeks for the larva to make silk thread to cover their bodies. Three to eight days later, in the following stage, silk thread folds the whole body of larva and we call it a cocoon, which would become a moth after 16 days.

Quality cocoons are then selected and boiled in water. What follows is to unwind the cocoon to 300 to 900 metres thread, which would be twisted and weaved to be production of silk cloth, which would eventually be dyed into different colors according to the need.

Overall, it takes nearly to get a cocoon and much effort to produce silk cloth.

Energy Consumption The graph shows energy consumed in America since 1980 till 2030 with predictions.

Over the whole period, petrol and oil consumption is always the highest among all the energy. Starting from 35 quadrillion units, after a slight decline to 30 in 1985, the usage of petrol and oil dramatically increases to about 50 in 2030, according to the projection. Coal and natural gas are important fuels too, which both reached 25 around 2013. After that, the consumption of natural gas is expected to be unchanged, while coal will see a significant upward trend to 30 in 2030. By contrast, nuclear, solar/wind, and hydropower utilised by Americans are predicted to be much less. Each of them consumed by US people will be more than 10 quadrillion units.

All kinds of fuels are projected to increase in 2030, especially petrol and oil, which will continue to be the main energy source for the USA citizens.

Characteristics we are born with and life experience There are some researchers suggesting that our innate traits are more influential to our personality and development than life experiences.

Some people believe that one's born talent can be more important than effort. As is known to all, there are some kids who are reckoned to be geniuses, who are capable of learning more quickly, jump higher or run faster. Obviously, Children born with those gifts could make a difference all the more easily than their counterparts. As to personalities, some kids may be born to be more selfish and self-obsessed. In kindergarten, there are always some children who want others' toys or books.

However, the environments children grow up are very significant too. Without suitable surroundings, no one could achieve success. For instance, kids who learn in a school where there is no math lecture are hardly likely to be an excellent mathematician. Moreover, we know loads of examples that students who excel in high schools cannot make it in universities because of the lack of self-regulation and a specific goal. And personalities could be changed too. No one is born to a criminal. As a matter of fact, even criminals should have a second chance to be a decent person. If we believe that everything is decided by born traits, all the hard work and effort by the teachers seem to be useless.

To sum up, innate characteristics play a significant role in our personality and development, but life experience determines how we use our talents and gifts, and affects the way we behave.

811 why agricultural land becomes less productive Worldwide land degradation is caused by several reasons including three main reasons, over-grazing, deforestation and over-cultivation. 35% land degradation in the world is due to over-grazing, which is extremely influential in Oceania, whose total land degradation rate is 13% but 11.3% is caused by over-grazing and only 1.7% by deforestation. 30% of worldwide land degradation is owing to deforestation, which is also the main reason for the land degraded in Europe, counting for 9.8% out of a total 23%. The number is 5.5% for over-grazing and 7.7% for over-cultivation. Over-cultivation is another cause of world land degradation, counting for 28%, and other reasons except those three count for merely 7%. In North America, just 5% of land is degraded, among which 3.3% is due to over-cultivation, which is the most reason, 1.5% is caused by over-grazing, and only 0.2% is caused by deforestation.

How to control traffic and pollution There has been an increasing concern that more and more cars are on the street and the air pollution caused by cars is really serious. Some people suggest to increase the price of petrol to solve the problem. I partially agree with that.

It's straight forward that the higher the price of petrol is, the fewer people would choose to resort to public traffic service instead of driving their own cars, which is good for the relief of both the traffic jam and the pollution problems. Those car drivers perhaps have to take a bus or a taxi, maybe even ride a bicycle. However, for people whose workplaces are very distant from their houses, they may not be able to turn to bus or bike, which would make them definitely late for work. In cases like that, rising the price of petrol is not as efficient as you think.

There are many other ways to lighten the traffic jam and pollution problems. For example, increasing the price of cars. It will directly decrease the amount of cars rather than only declining the frequence of driving the cars, which is all the more efficient. What's more, we could limit the number of cars which customers can buy in a year, which has been happening in some cities of China, where you have to wait for a probably long time to buy a new car.

And the government should also provide some other methods for commute, say, cheaper bus tickets, or rent-free bikes. Perhaps encouraging people to work at home is a smart idea, too. Employees could save both the time and the money for commute and use the time on work, which could rise the efficiency and meanwhile solve the problem of traffic and pollution.

preposition+pronoun+doing One trend is the move away from they working for the same employer for years. Can I say "them working" or "their working"? Which is correct?

"count for" and "account for" Chinese count for a fifth of the population in the world. Chinese account for a fifth of the population in the world. Are both of them correct?

“in the road” or “on the road”? I read a sentence saying “It doesn't have a garage, though you can park in the road” when doing my ietls test. Shouldn’t it be “on the road”? Is there any situation where you can say “in the road”?

How to use “a kind/sort of”? Spider is a kind/sort of insect. Should I say “A spider”, “Spiders”, or “The spider”? “insect” or “insects”?