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 California to dig for gold. And Strauss came to sell canvas to these gold miners. Canvas is a heavy fabric, so Strauss thought the miners could use the canvas for tents. One day Strauss heard a miner complain that he couldn’t find clothes strong enough for the work he was doing. Strauss got an idea. He quickly took some of his canvas and made it into 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 even better. He bought a fabric that was softer than canvas but just as strong. This fabric came from Nimes, a city in France, and was called serge de Nimes. The miners like this fabric. They called it “denim” from (de Nimes) and bought even more pants from Strauss. However, denim had no color. Because of this the denim pants did not look very interesting, and they got dirty easily. To solve these problems, Strauss dyed the denim blue. Strauss continued to improve his jeans. Today the company he started is known around the world. And Jeans are considered not just practical but very fashionable as well. True or False? 1. Strauss came to California to buy canvas for the gold miners. ______ 2. Strauss made his first jeans from a fabric called serge de Nimes. ______ 3. Nimes is a city in France. ______ 4. Jeans are considered good for many uses. ______ Questions 5. What could be the best title of the passage? A. A Young Immigrant From Germany B. The Gold Rush C. Serge de Nimes D. The History of Blue Jeans 6. What does the word “immigrant” mean? A. a person who is good at business C. a person who moves to another country B. a person buys and sells thing D. a person who work in a mine