【题目】 There are purple clothes, purple handbags, purple bicycles, purple furniture, even purple computers! Purple is very popular today. But a long time ago, purple was a very expensive and unusual color. Let’s take a look at the rich history of the color purple.
Some scientists believe that the first plants to appear on Earth over 500 million years ago probably looked purple, not green. Plants today are green because they use green chlorophyll (叶绿素) to produce energy. But these early plants probably used something called retinal, which is a dark purple color.
During the time of the Roman Empire (37 BC-476 AD), it was very difficult to make purple dye (染料). The dye came from sea snail (海螺). But 10,000 dead sea snails got you just one gram of purple dye... as well as a very bad smell! This special purple dye… was called Tyrian purple, and it was the preferred colour of emperors (皇帝).
In 16th-century England, purple was only for the king’s family members. Queen Elizabeth I’s clothes were purple, but common people were not allowed (允许) to wear the color.
In 1856, William Perkin, an 18-year-old science student, noticed something strange while doing an experiment (实验). The chemicals he used to clean his instruments mixed with the chemicals he used in his experiment and produced a bright purple color. This discovery led Perkin to start a company using this chemical mixture to make purple dye. The dye was not expensive. Thanks to Perkin, now anyone can afford to wear purple.
The【1】of the color purple | |
Introduction | Purple was very expensive and unusual in the【2】. Now it is one of the most popular【3】. We use it a lot in our life. |
The first plants on Earth probably looked【4】. They【5】energy by using retinal, which is dark purple. During the Roman Empire, people【6】sea snails to make purple dye. 【7】the dye had a bad smell, emperors liked it very much. In 16th century, common people could not【8】purple clothes in England because purple was only for the royal family. In 1850, William Perkin found that something strange【9】in an experiment. He got a bright purple colour by mixing certain chemicals together. Later he started a company to make purple dye, which was much【10】than sea snail dye. Now everyone can afford to wear purple. | |