Sheet Glass Manufacture: The Float Process – IELTS Reading Answers

Updated On Mar 05, 2022

Sheet Glass Manufacture: The Float Process – IELTS Reading Answers

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1 Sheet Glass Manufacture: The Float Process
2 Answers
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The Academic passage ‘Sheet Glass Manufacture: The Float Process’ is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test. Try to find the answers to get an idea of the difficulty level of the passages in the actual reading test. If you want more passages to solve, try taking one of our IELTS reading practice tests.

You should spend 20 minutes on questions 1-13, based on your reading of the given passage.

Sheet Glass Manufacture: The Float Process

sheet glass - 1 sheet glass - 2

sheet glass - 3

sheet glass - 4

sheet glass - 5

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Question Number	Answer	Explanation
1	spinning	Paragraph 1 states that the first successful method for making clear, flat glass involved ‘spinning’. This method was very effective as the glass had not touched any surfaces which meant that the glass remained in the same way between being soft and becoming hard. However, the process took a long time (slow). Hence, the answer is ‘spinning’.
2	(perfectly) unblemished	Paragraph 1 points out that the first successful method for making clear, flat glass involved spinning. This method was very effective as the glass had not touched any surfaces between the process of being soft and becoming hard, so it stayed ‘perfectly unblemished’, with a ‘fire finish’. Hence, the answer is ‘(perfectly) unblemished’.
3	labour intensive	Paragraph 1 mentions that the first successful method for making clear, flat glass involved spinning. The process took a long time and was ‘labour intensive’. Hence, the answer is ‘labour intensive’.

4	thickness	Paragraph 2 brings out the fact that the first continuous ribbon process involved squeezing molten glass through two hot rollers, similar to an old mangle. This allowed ‘glass of virtually any thickness’ to be made, that is, the process could produce glass sheets of varying thickness non-stop. Hence, the answer is ‘thickness’.
5	marked	Paragraph 2 indicates that the first continuous ribbon process involved squeezing molten glass through two hot rollers, similar to an old mangle. This allowed glass of virtually any thickness to be made non-stop, but the rollers would leave both sides of the ‘glass marked’. Hence, the answer is ‘marked’.
6	(molten) glass	Paragraph 4 informs that when pouring ‘molten glass’ onto the molten tin, the underside of the glass would also be perfectly flat, as can be seen in the diagram. Hence, the answer is ‘(molten) glass’.
7	tin	Paragraph 3 relates that Pilkington had been experimenting with improving the melting process, and in 1952 he had the idea of using a bed of molten metal to form the flat glass, eliminating altogether the need for rollers within the float bath. The metal had to melt at a temperature less than the hardening point of glass (about 600°C), but could not boil at a temperature below the temperature of the molten glass (about 1500°C). The best metal for the job was tin. Hence, the answer is ‘tin’.
8	rollers	Paragraph 2 explains that the first continuous ribbon process involved squeezing molten glass through two hot rollers, similar to an old mangle. This allowed glass of virtually any thickness to be made non-stop, but the rollers (as shown in the diagram with two roller-like structures on the molten glass sheet) would leave both sides of the glass marked. Hence, the answer is ‘rollers’.
9	TRUE	Paragraph 3 communicates that Pilkington had been experimenting with improving the melting process, and in 1952 he had the idea of using a bed of molten metal to form the flat glass, eliminating altogether the need for rollers within the float bath. The metal had to melt at a temperature less than the hardening point of glass (about 600°C), but could not boil at a temperature below the temperature of the molten glass (about 1500°C). As tin had both these qualities, it was considered as the best metal for the job. So, the statement agrees with the statement and the answer is ‘TRUE’.
10	NOT GIVEN	In the beginning of the fifth paragraph, it is given that Pilkington built a pilot plant in 1953 and by 1955 he had convinced his company to build a full-scale plant. However, it took 14 months of non-stop production, costing the company £100,000 a month, before the plant produced any usable glass. The author neither referred to any source of the money invested in the float nor that the money invested was Pilkington’s own. So, the answer is ‘NOT GIVEN’.
11	FALSE	Paragraph 5 tells us that it took 14 months of non-stop production, costing the company £100,000 a month, before the plant produced any usable glass. So, this statement proves that the full-scale plant was not an instant commercial success. As the statement contradicts the statement, the answer is ‘FALSE’.
12	TRUE	The writer, in paragraph 3, describes the earlier float process invented by Alistair Pilkington – this process used a bed of molten metal to form the flat glass, eliminating altogether the need for rollers within the float bath. Paragraph 7 tells us about the changes after the 1950s. The product has changed dramatically, from a single thickness of 6.8 mm to a range from sub-millimetre to 25 mm, from a ribbon frequently marred by inclusions and bubbles to almost optical perfection. To ensure the highest quality changes were made in the process like inspection took place at every stage, occasionally, a bubble was not removed during refining, a sand grain refused to melt, a tremor in the tin put ripples into the glass ribbon. As the statement agrees with the statement, the answer is ‘TRUE’.
13	TRUE	We come to know from paragraph 7 that inspection technology (computers) allows more than 100 million measurements a second to be made across the ribbon and so helps in locating flaws the unaided eye (human eyes) would be unable to see. It also enables computers downstream to steer cutters around flaws. As the statement agrees with the statement, the answer is ‘TRUE’.

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