What is the main idea of the passage?

Adhesion, cohesion, and tiny spaces let water spread and rise through a paper towel's fiber network. (The passage connects molecular attractions with the towel's fine structure to explain capillary movement.)

What would likely happen if water did not cohere to neighboring molecules?

Molecules moving along fibers would pull less additional water behind them. (Cohesion is specifically described as the force that helps one moving molecule draw others along.)

What does “adhesion” mean in this passage?

attraction between water molecules and the paper fibers (The passage directly names water sticking to fibers as adhesion.)

What material forms the towel's web of fibers?

cellulose (The second paragraph identifies paper as a web of cellulose fibers.)

Why Water Climbs a Paper Towel: Level 2 Reading Comprehension Questions

Dip one corner of a paper towel into colored water, and the wet patch slowly rises. No pump is hidden in the paper. The movement comes from water's attraction to the towel and to itself.

Paper is made from a web of cellulose fibers with tiny spaces between them. Water molecules stick to the fibers, an attraction called adhesion. They also pull on neighboring water molecules, a force called cohesion. As molecules at the edge creep along a fiber, cohesion helps draw more water behind them.

This capillary action can lift water against gravity for a limited distance. Narrow spaces often produce a stronger rise because more water is close to a surface, though resistance also slows the flow. The process continues until the upward effects balance gravity and other forces.

A towel absorbs a spill through the same network. It does not simply store water in large empty pockets. Its many fine fibers provide paths and surfaces along which water can spread.

Comprehension questions