Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 61 to 65. The Origin of Jeans In 1853, the California gold rush was in full swing and everyday items were in short supply. Levi Srrauss, a 24-year-old German immigrant, left New York for San Francisco with a small supply of dry goods with the intention of opening a branch of his brother’s New York dry goods business. Shortly after his arrival, a ...

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 61 to 65.

The Origin of Jeans

In 1853, the California gold rush was in full swing and everyday items were in short supply. Levi Srrauss, a 24-year-old German immigrant, left New York for San Francisco with a small supply of dry goods with the intention of opening a branch of his brother’s New York dry goods business. Shortly after his arrival, a prospector wanted to know what Mr. Strauss was selling. When Strauss told him he had rough canvas cloth to use for tents and wagon covers, the prospector said, “You should have brought trousers!”, because he couldn’t find a pair of trousers strong enough to last.

Levi Strauss had the canvas made into work trousers. Miners liked the trousers, but complained that the fabric was not very comfortable and tended to chafe. Levi Strauss substituted the canvas with a twilled cotton cloth from France called “serge de Nimes.” The fabric later became known as denim and the trousers were nicknamed blue jeans. Then Levi Strauss and Nevada tailor David Jacobs co-patented the process of putting small metal rivets in places such as the sides of the pockets that needed extra strength. On May 20, 1873, they received U.S. Patent No. 139.121 This date is now considered the official birthday of“blue jeans”

But why were they called blue jeans? Denim is unique in its singular connection with one color. It is made from thread that is traditionally dyed with the blue pigment obtained from indigo dye. Indigo was linked with practical fabrics and work clothing. The durability of indigo as a color and its darkness of tone made it a good choice when frequent washing was not possible.

What problem did the prospectors have?