II. Read

A young man from Germany named Levi Strauss arrived in California in 1850. He went there to sell things to the miners. He saw that the miners needed strong pants, so he began to make them. He used cloth that people make tents from. He put rivets on the pockets to make them strong because the man put rocks in their pockets. These pants were very strong and lasted a long time. The pants became very popular immediately. Later Mr. Strauss started making jeans from cotton cloth from Nimes, France. People called

this cloth denim. Christopher Columbus used denim for the sails of his ships. Sailors in

Genoa, Italy, wore denim pants. The word “jeans” comes from the word “Genoa”. Mr. Strauss

made the first jeans in the United States, but the idea and the kind of cloth came from Europe.

The names came from France and Italy.

1. Why did Levi Strauss go to California?

…………………………………………………………………

2. What did the miners in California need?

………………………………………………………………

3. Where were the first jeans made by Mr. Strauss?

………………………………………………………

4. Rivets ______.

A. make good sails B. make tents strong

C. come from Genoa D. make the pockets of jeans strong

5. The word denim comes from the name of a city in ______.

A. France B. India C. Italy D. Germany