6．
阅读理解
Perhaps
the most famous clothing brand name(服装品牌名称) in
the world, Levi Strauss ＆ Co. is the inventor of blue
denim jeans. Here's how it happened.
In the mid-1800s many people went to
California to look for gold. A young German named Levi Strauss traveled to San
Francisco to help his brother on business. He sold canvas(帆布) to the workers for tents. But the workers said they needed pants
more, because their pants were easy to wear out. Instead of selling his canvas
for tent-making, he turned them into pants. These kinds of pants were very
popular with workers. He was very happy and named the kind of pants "denims".
And in 1853 he founded Levi Strauss & Co.
Twenty years later the company began using
a design with pockets. During the working, Strauss developed the process
for putting metal rivets(铆钉) in the jeans for strength.
On May 20, 1873, they received the U. S.
Patent No. 139, 121 for the process and that date is now considered the
official birthday of"blue jeans".
Today the company still has its factories
in San Francisco, California. Over 11, 000 people work in them and bring in
over $4 billion a year.
