Самостійна робота з читання або аудіювання "Про джинси"

Reading or Listening Comprehension

About Jeans

Levi Strauss, a young immigrant from Germany, arrived in San Francisco in 1850. California was in the middle of the gold rush. Thousands of men were coming to dig for gold. Levi Strauss came to sell canvas to these miners. Canvas is a heavy fabric. Strauss thought the miners could use the canvas for tents.

One day Strauss heard a miner’s complaints that he couldn’t find strong clothes for his work. Strauss got an idea. He took some canvas and sew pants. These pants were what the miners needed. In one day Strauss sold all the pants he had made.

Strauss wanted to improve his pants. He wanted to make them better. He bought fabric that was softer than canvas but just as strong. This fabric came from Nimes, a city in France. The miners called it “denim” (from de Nimes) and bought more pants from Strauss.

However, denim had no color. Because of this the denim pants did not look interesting and got dirty easily. To solve these problems, Strauss dyed the denim blue.

Today, the company he started is known around the world. And jeans are considered to be not just practical but very fashionable as well.

Questions for comprehension.

1.   Why did Levi Strauss come to California?

2.   What did miners need for their work?

3.   What did Strauss do with canvas?

4.How did he improve his pants?

5.   Why did miners call the fabric “denim”?

6.   Why did Strauss dye the denim?