Can – A Brief History Lesson

A. The story of the can begins in 1795 when Nicholas Appert, a Parisian, had an idea:
why not pack food in bottles like wine? Fifteen years later, after researching and testing
his idea, he published his theory: if food is sufficiently heated and sealed in an airtight
container, it will not spoil. In 1810 Peter Durand, an Englishman, wanted to surpass
Appert’s invention, so he selected to try tin instead of glass. Like glass, tin could be
sealed airtight but tin was not breakable and was much easier to handle. Durand himself
did no canning, but two other Englishmen, Bryan Donkin and John Hall, used Durand’s
patent. After experimenting for more than a year, they set up a commercial canning
factory and by 1813 they were sending tins of food to British army and navy authorities
for trial.

B. Perhaps the greatest encouragement to the newborn canning industry was the
explosion in the number of new colonial territories. As people and goods were being
transported to all parts of the world, the can industry itself was growing in new
territories. Englishmen who emigrated to America brought their newfound knowledge
with them. One of these was Thomas Kensett, who might fairly be called the father of the
can manufacturing industry in the United States. In 1812 he set up a small plant on the
New York waterfront to can the first hermetically sealed products in the United States.

C. Just before the Civil War, a technical advance by canners enabled them to speed up
production. Adding calcium chloride to the water in which cans were cooked raised the
water temperature, speeding up the canning process. Also for almost 100 years, tin cans
were made by artisans by hand. It was a laborious process, requiring considerable skill
and muscle. As the industrial revolution took hold in the United States, the demand for
cans increased and machines began to replace the artisans’ handiwork. A good artisan
could make only 10 cans a day. True production progress in can-making began in 1922,
when American engineers perfected the body-making process. New methods soon
increased production of cans to as many as 250 a minute.

D. As early as 1940, can manufacturers began to explore the possibility of adapting

cans to package carbonated soft drinks. The can had to be strengthened to
accommodate higher internal can pressures created by carbonation (especially during
warm summer months), which meant increasing the thickness of the metal used in the
can ends. Another concern for the new beverage can was its shelf life. Even small
amounts of dissolved tin or iron from the can could impair the drinking quality of drinks.
Also the food acids, including carbonic, citric and phosphoric, in soft drinks presented a
risk for the rapid corrosion of exposed tin and iron in the can. At this point the can was
upgraded by improving the organic coatings used to line the inside. The can
manufacturers then embarked on a program of material and cost savings by reducing
both the amount of steel and the amount of coating used in can making. These efforts
were in part inspired by a new competitor - aluminum.
E. Beverage cans made from aluminum were first introduced in 1965. This was an
exciting innovation for the packaging industry because the aluminum can was made with
only two pieces - a body and an end. This made production easier. Some of the reasons
for the aluminum can’s acceptance were its ductility, its support of carbonation pressure,
its lighter weight and the fact that aluminum does not rust. Both steel and aluminum
cans used an easy-open end tab but the aluminum tab was much easier to make.
Perhaps the most critical element in the aluminum can’s market success was its
recycling value. Aluminum can recycling excelled economically in the competition with
steel because of the efficiencies aluminum cans realized in making new cans from
recycled materials compared with 100 percent virgin aluminum. Steel did not realize
similar economies in the recycling process.

F. Prior to 1970, can makers, customers and consumers alike were unaware of the
impact that the mining and manufacturing of steel or aluminum had on the environment.
The concept of natural resource preservation was not an issue of great importance and
the low growth of population during these early years further de-emphasized concerns
for resource depletion. Both industries, however, came to realize the importance of
reducing their impact on the environment in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a new
environmentally conscious generation emerged. Manufacturers began to recognize the
economics of recycling, namely lower manufacturing costs from using less material and
less energy. By the 1980s and 1990s, recycling had become a way of life. Aluminum can
recycling has become a billion-dollar business and one of the world’s most successful
environmental enterprises. Over the years, the aluminum can has come to be known as
America’s most recyclable package, with over 60 percent of cans being recycled
annually.

G. Advances in can manufacturing technology have also brought us lighter aluminum

cans. In 1972, one pound of aluminum yielded only 21.75 cans. Today, by using less
material to make each can, one pound of aluminum makes approximately 32 cans - a 47
percent improvement. Just the lightening of can ends makes a huge difference. When
you multiply the savings by the 100 billion cans that are made each year, the weight and
savings are phenomenal - over 200 million pounds of aluminum!
QUESTIONS 1-7
Reading Passage has seven paragraphs A – G.
From the list of headings below choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs B – G.
Write the appropriate number (i – xi) in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.
NB There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use them all.
List of headings
i The Invention of the Aluminium Can
ii Technological Breakthroughs
iii Canning and the Beer Industry
iv The Invention
v Canning and War
vi Further Manufacturing Advances
vii Problems with Spoiled Contents
viii Expansion of the Industry
ix Today’s Uses for Canning
x Drinks Canning
xi Cans and The Environment
1 Paragraph A IV
2 Paragraph B Vii
3 Paragraph C VI
3 Paragraph D X
5 Paragraph E I
6 Paragraph F Xi
7 Paragraph G II

QUESTIONS 8-12
The first list (questions 7-12) is a list of dates of events in Reading Passage.
The second list (A - G) is a list of the events. Match the year with the correct event in the history of the can.
Write your answers in boxes 7-128 on your answer sheet.
List of events
A Mass production techniques revolutionized the canning process.
B Tinned food was tested by military authorities.
C Today’s canning material was first introduced.
D The first American canning factory was opened.
E Tin was used in the canning process for the first time.
F The canning of fizzy drinks began.
G The first business canning plant was opened.

List of dates
8 1922 A
9 1812 D
10 1813 B
11 1965 D
12 1940 F

QUESTIONS 13-14
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 13-14 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
13 Recycling has helped reduce manufacturing overheads.T
14 Aluminium can production costs have fallen by nearly 50% since 1972.NG
 Australian parrots and their adaptation to habitat change

A Parrots are found across the tropic and in all southern hemisphere continents except
Antarctica, but nowhere do the display such a richness of diversity and form as in
Australia. One- sixth of the world's 345 parrot species are found there, and Australia has
long been renowned for the number and variety of its parrots.
B In the 16th century, the German cartographer Mercator made a world map that
included a place, somewhere near present-day Australia, that he named Terra
Psittacorum - the Land of Parrots - and the first European settlers in Australia often
referred to the country as Parrot Land. In 1865, the celebrated British naturalist and
wildlife artist John Gould said: "No group of birds gives Australia so tropical and benign
an air as the numerous species of this great family by which it is tenanted.
C Parrots are descendants of an ancient line. Due to their great diversity, and since most
species inhabit Africa, Australia and South America, it seems almost certain that parrots
originated millions of years ago on the ancient southern continent of Gondwana, before it
broke up into the separate southern hemisphere continents we know today. Much of
Gondwana comprised vast rainforests intersected by huge slow-flowing rivers and
expansive lakes, but by eight million years ago, great changes were underway. The
center of the continent of Australia had begun to dry out, and the rainforests that once
covered it gradually contracted to the continental margins, where, to a limited extent,
they still exist today.
D The creatures that remained in those shrinking rainforests had to adapt to the drier
conditions or face extinction. Reacting to these desperate circumstances, the parrot
family, typically found in jungles in other parts of the world, has populated some of
Australia's harshest environments. The parrots spread from ancestral forests through
eucalypt woodlands to colonies the central deserts of Australia, and as a consequence
they diversified into a wide range of species with adaptations that reflect the many
changes animals and plants had to make to survive in these areas.
E These evolutionary pressures helped mould keratin, the substance from which breaks
are made into a range of tools capable of gathering the new food types favored by
various species of parrot. The size of a parrot's short, blunt beak and the length of that
beak's do curved upper section are related to the type of food each species eats. Some
have comparatively long beaks that are perfect for extracting seeds from fruit; others
have broader and stronger beaks that are designed for cracking hard seeds.
F Differently shaped beaks are not the only adaptations that have been made during the
developing relationship between parrots and their food plants. Like all of Australia's
many honey eating birds, the rainbow-coloured lorikeets and the flowers on which they
feed have long coevolved with features such as the shape and colour of the flowers
adapted to the bird's particular needs, and physical a example, red is the
most I attractive colour to birds, and thus flowers which depend on birds for pollination
are more often red, and lorikeets' to gues have bristles which help them to collect as
much pollen as possible.
G Today, most of Australia's parrots inhabit woodland and open forest, and their
numbers decline towards both deserts and wetter areas. The majority are nomadic to
some degree, moving around to take advantage of feeding and breeding places. Two of
the dry country parrots, the pink and grey galah and the pink, white and yellow corella
have expanded their ranges in recent years. They are among the species that have
adapted well to the changes brought about by European settlement forest telling created
grasslands where galahs and corellas thrive.
H But other parrot species did not fare so well when their environments were altered.
The clearing of large areas of rainforest is probably responsible for the disappearance of
the double-eyed fig parrot, and numbers of ground parrots declined when a great part of
their habitat was destroyed by the draining of coastal swamps. Even some parrot species
that benefited from forest clearing at first are now comforted by a shortage of nesting
sites due to further man-made changes.
I New conditions also sometimes favour an incoming species over one that originally
inhabited the area. For example, after farmers cleared large areas of forest on Kangaroo
Island off the coast of South Australia, the island was colonised by galahs. They were
soon going down holes and destroying black cockatoo eggs in order to take the hole for
their own use. Their success precipitated a partial collapse in the black cockatoo
population when the later lost the struggle for scarce nesting hollows.
J There may be no final answer to ensuring an equitable balance between parrot species.
Nest box programmers help ease the shortage of nesting sites in some places, but there
are not enough, they are expensive and they are not an adequate substitute by large,
old trees, such as the habitat they represent and nectar, pollen and seeds they provide.
Competition between parrots for nest sites is a result of the changes we humans have
made to the Earth. We are the most widespread and dangerous competitors that parrots
have ever had to face, but we also have the knowledge and skill to maintain the won
Questions 1-6
Reading Passage has ten paragraphs A-J
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-J in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet
1. An example of how one parrot species may survive at the expense of another I
2. A description of how plants may adapt to attract birds F
3. Example of two parrot species which benefited from changes to the environment G
4. How the varied Australian landscape resulted in a great variety of parrot species D
5. A reason why most parrot species are native to the southern hemisphere C
6. An example of a parrot species which did not survive changes to its habitat H
Questions 7-9
Choose the correct letter A, B, C, or D
Write the correct letter in boxes 7-9 on your answer sheet
7. The writer believes that most parrot species
A Move from Africa and South America to Australia
B Had ancestors in either Africa, Australia or South America
C Had ancestors in a continent which later split up
D Came from a continent now covered by water
8. What does the Writer say about parrot's beak? d
A They are longer than those of other birds
B They are made of a unique material
C They are used more efficiently than those of other species
D They are specially adapted to suit the diet
8. Which of the following is NOT mentioned by the writer as a disadvantage of nesting
boxes? b
A They cost too much
B They need to be maintained
C They provide only shelter, not food
D They are too few of them
Questions 11-13
Complete the summary below
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each
answer.
Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet
Parrots in Australia
There are 345 varieties of parrot in existence and, of these, 10 … One- sixth …… live in
Australia. As early as the 11…16th century…….. , the mapmaker 12 …… Mercator
……… recognized that parrots lived in that part of the world. 13…… John Gould ……….. ,
the famous painter of animals and birds, commented on the size and beauty of the
Australian parrot family.
 Maori Fish Hooks

A. Maori fish hooks, made from wood, bone, stone and flax, are intended to have the
best possible design and function. The hooks are designed to target specific species with
precision. In the industry of commercial long-line fishing, there are some Maori hook
designs which are making a splash.
B. When Polynesians first came New Zealand sometime within the years 1100-1300 AD,
they didn’t have the technology necessary to heat and manipulate metal out of rocks.
Meanwhile, fish was the settlers’ main food source at the time, so fishermen made their
hooks and fishing gear out of wood, bone, stone and shells. Other plants native to the
island of New Zealand, like as flax (harakeke), cabbage tree (ti) and astelia (kiekie) gave
the necessary fibrous material to make fishing lines and nets of greater or equal strength
to the jute, which was being used by the Europeans at the time. However, as a material,
metal is more malleable, and can be changed into any shape, while natural materials are
limited in the shapes they can take on. The Maori fish hooks needed to be more
innovative in the ways that they dealt with these limitations.
C. Early accounts of Europeans who settled and explored New Zealand claimed that
Maori hooks, known as matau, were “odd”, “of doubtful efficacy”, “very clumsy affairs”
or “impossible looking.” Archaeologists from more recent times have also mentioned the
round hook appearing as odd, with comments such as, “shaped in a manner which
makes it very difficult to imagine could ever be effective in catching a fish.” William
Anderson, who was aboard the Resolution during Cook’s third voyage in 1777 as the
ship’s surgeon, commented that the Maori “live chiefly by fishing, making use…of
wooden fish hooks pointed with bone, but so oddly made that a stranger is at a loss to
know how they can answer such a purpose.”
D. The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa did their own recent study on Maori
fish hooks two hundred and thirty years later, and were able to demonstrate that the
unique hook design was a matter of function. The hook’s design allowed it to catch fish
by spinning away from the direction of the point and catching their jaws, instead of
poking a hole through the fish or by being used as a lever, which some archaeologists
also suggested. It seems that the design of the Maori fish hook is, perhaps, the world’s
most efficiently and masterfully designed fish hook, likely superior to any modern metal
fish hook of today.
E. To make larger hooks, Maori used shanks made of strong wood, with stout points
made of bone or shell. They tied tree branches and saplings together to grow them into
the ideal shapes for building, then harvested the plants when they grew to the
appropriate size. They hardened wood by carefully drying it and burying underground
with fires lit above it. Human bone was often used for bone points, which they lashed
securely to a groove at the end of the shank with pre-made flax materials (muka). When
they wanted to catch larger species like sharks, groper and ling, they used composite
hook. However, average the traditional hook was usually not longer than a three finger
breadth (128 mm length).
F. To capture seabirds for food and feathers, like albatross, the islanders used slender
hooks which can be differentiated from other hooks intended to catch fish by their lighter
build and lack of an inturned point. Many of these hooks were collected by early
explorers, suggesting that the taking of seabirds with hook and line was an important
source of food and feathers for Maori. (105 mm length). Slender hooks with wide gapes
were used to capture albatross and other seabirds for food and feathers, and can be
distinguished from hooks intended to catch fish by the lighter construction and lack of an
inturned point. Early explorers collected many of these hooks which could indicated that
catching seabirds with a hook and line provided significant amounts of food and feathers
for the Maori. (105 mm length)
G. Maori adopted new materials quickly once they became available with European
explorers, sealers and whalers who began to arrive towards the end of the 1700s. At this
point, the Maori were still making their fish hooks, but now using metals and imported
materials. Wooden and flax parts of old, abandoned fish hooks decomposed quickly as
traditional hooks were cast away in favor of new ones. Tools made of luxury materials
such as ivory or greenstone may have been kept around as decorations items, with
stylized Maori fish hooks seen today as a symbol of cultural revitalization.
H. The Maori kept recreating traditional designs even as new materials poured in,
preferring hook shapes which were introduced by Pakeha into the 1800s. By following
the tradition of the rotating hook design, they remained connected with a part of their
traditional culture. In the end, though, it was only a matter of time before the amount of
mass-produced metal European hooks finally overwhelmed the area, highlighting the
difficulty of making hooks from nails, horseshoes and other metal objects, and finally the
use of the traditional designs fell out of favor.
I. By the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, tourists and collectors’
demands for Maori artifacts had grown, leading manufacturers to produce large
quantities of forged hooks. These replicas were then traded with both Maoris and
Europeans to use as forgeries of the real thing, sometimes directly commissioned by
artifact dealers themselves. Fake hooks can be spotted by their cheap construction,
inconsistent materials, rudimentary lashings, odd or over-elaborate decorative carvings,
and finally, by the lack of in-turned points or angled grooves used to actually attach the
fishing line.
J. The ways that matau have changed throughout their history is somewhat symbolic of
how Maori have adapted to use European tools, materials and technology to their
purposes over time, as well as the ways that European influence and technology
contributed to, rather overtook, generally compatible Maori skills, and traditional
materials were replaced or complemented by metals and, more recently, artificial
materials. Commercial longline fishermen everywhere have begun using the circle hook
design today, one that is nearly the same as the traditional matau in both its appearance
and functionality. It seems that the advantages and improved catch rates of this Maori
technology have been recognized once more.
Questions 1-8
The reading passage has ten paragraphs labelled A-J.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-J in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
1 Instruction on how to recognise authentic Maori hooks from counterfeit ones I
2 A description of a different type of hooks that are not used to catch fish F
3 An acknowledgement that Maori design and craftsmanship are still relevant in the
modern world
4 An investigation into how the hooks functioned so effectively D
5 A description of how modern technology began to dominate and eventually took over
from traditional hook construction H
6 A list of raw materials used to construct hooks B
7 An outline of how different styles of hooks and types of materials were employed to
catch larger fish E
8 An account of how the Maori employed new technology and adapted it G
Questions 9-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading
passage? In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write
YES – if the statement reflects the claims of the writer
NO – if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN – if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
9 The early European settlers quickly understood how the Maori fish hook worked No
10 The hook works by making a hole and embedding itself in the mouth of the fish No
11 The Maoris catch seabirds by their feet NG
12 There used to be a demand for Maori fish hooks and many counterfeit ones were
produced Yes
13 Today European style hooks have completely replaced the traditional styles used by
the Maoris No