Papermaking technology (造纸术) is one of the four great inventions in ancient China. ____1____ Thousands of years ago in the Mediterranean (地中海), it was common for people to write messages on broken pieces from jars (坛，罐). ____2____

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, an official named Cai Lun created a sheet of paper using mulberry (桑树) and other fibers (纤维) along with fishing net, old clothes, and other wastes. He steamed and cooked all these materials with water, and changed them into pulp (纸浆), then poured the pulp out carefully on a fine screen and dried it into a kind of thin paper. The paper was suitable for writing and was also very cheap, so it became very popular. ____3____

After the Eastern Han Dynasty, papermaking technology had been gradually improved. And then bamboo and straw could also be used as the materials for making paper. ____4____ For example, the Xuan paper is used for Chinese calligraphy and painting.

Papermaking technology was introduced to the Korean peninsula and Japan in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties, and later to Arabia and other countries. ____5____ It also plays an important role in the development of global civilization.

A. Therefore, Cai Lun played a great part in papermaking technology.

B. Before it was invented, people wrote on different kinds of things.

C. Because of different materials, many kinds of paper were produced for different uses.

D. Animal skins and wood were also common materials to write on.

E. The invention of paper provides a more convenient way for communication of information.