From the information given in the passage aboui the Tigris and Euphrates, we learn that the Euphrates is shorter but deeper than the Tigris
each river once had its own outlet to the open sea
the Euphrates is longer and of more commercial use
the rivers have always joined near the Persian Gulf to form a swamp
more ancient cities were situated on the banks of the Euphrates than the Tigris
According to the passage, the Tigris River has been fought over by the Assyrians, the Macedonians, the Parthians and the Iraqis
flows into Lake Van in eastern Turkey
has, since the dawn of civilization, provided sites for important settlements
has been overused for irrigation, resulting in large swamps
is only navigable by small boats
It is clear from the passage that the people living in the area between the Tigris and the Euphrates. are direct descendants of the Assyrians
are generally nomads
live mainly on fish
live high up in the mountains
use the river water for agriculture
165 JAMES HARGREAVES The obscurity of James Hargreaves's life contrasts sharply with the worldwide influence of his invention, a yam-spinning machine called the spinning jenny. Almost nothing is known of his life. He was probably born in Blackburn in Lancashire, England. While still a boy, he became a carpenter and spinner in Standhill, a village nearby. At that time Lancashire was the centre of England's manufacture of cotton goods. The industry was still confined to workers' homes, however, and the cards, spinning wheels and looms were operated by hand. It is said that an accident gave Hargreaves the idea for his spinning jenny. In his crowded cottage, which served him both as home and workshop, he was experimenting with spinning two threads at one time. His experiments were unsuccessful, however, because the horizontal spindles allowed the threads to fly apart and become tangled. After his daughter Jenny overturned the experimental machine and its wheel continued to revolve with the spindles in a vertical position, it occurred to Hargreaves that a machine with spindles in this position might be successful. He proceeded to build a spinning machine, probably in 1764, that would spin eight threads at the same time. He called his new invention, after his daughter, a spinning jenny.