题目内容
Levi Strauss was born in Bavaria (巴伐利亚) in Europe in 1829. He emigrated(移居)to the United States of America when he was seventeen years old. His brothers sold cloth, and he worked for them even though he could not speak English very well. At this time many people were moving to California because gold was discovered there. Strauss went to look for gold, too.
Strauss took a lot of cloth with him to San Francisco. He thought that he could make tents out of the cloth and sell them to people working in the gold fields. But when he got there, he saw that people had a greater need for clothes than tents. Clothes did not last very long in the gold fields. At first Strauss made pants out of canvas(帆布). They were very strong ---- much stronger than other pants. Soon everyone was wearing them , so he decided only to make pants. He opened a small store and made a lot of money from selling pants.
After a while, Strauss found a material even stronger than canvas. It came from a town in France called Nimes. The French called the material serge de Nimes, which means “cloth from Nimes”. The Americans called it denim. Strauss also bought some cloth from Genoa, a town in Italy. To Americans this name sounds like “jeans”, so they called his pants jeans. The cloth that Strauss used was always blue, so people also called his pants blue jeans and blue denims. Other people called them Levi’s. Levi Strauss jeans are some of the best-selling jeans in the world today. They last a long time and are very comfortable.
56.
- 1.
When Levi Strauss went to San Francisco for the first time, he wanted to ______.
- A.find a strong material to make pants
- B.work for his brothers
- C.make money by selling tents
- D.open a store to make pants57.
- A.
- 2.
In the beginning Strauss made pants from ______.
- A.serge de Nimes
- B.silk
- C.denim
- D.canvas58.
- A.
- 3.
The name “jeans” was first used by ______.
- A.Bavarians
- B.Americans
- C.Italians
- D.Frenchmen59.
- A.
- 4.
The story is about ______.
- A.where cloth came from
- B.the man who first made jeans
- C.how to make lots of money
- D.life on the gold fields
- A.
Five years ago, David Smith wore an expensive suit to work every day. “I was a clothes addict,” he jokes. “I used to carry a fresh suit to work with me so I could change if my clothes got wrinkled.” Today David wears casual clothes—khaki pants and sports shirt—to the office. He hardly ever wears a necktie. “I’m working harder than ever,” David says, “and I need to feel comfortable.”
More and more companies are allowing their office workers to wear casual clothes to work. In the United States, the change from formal to casual office wear has been gradual. In the early 1990s, many companies allowed their employees to wear casual clothes on Friday, but only on Friday. This became known as “dress-down Friday” or “casual Friday”. “What started out as an extra one-day-a-week benefit for employees has really become an everyday thing.” said business consultant Maisly Jones.
Why have so many companies started allowing their employees to wear casual clothes? One reason is that it’s easier for a company to attract new employees if it has a casual dress code. “A lot of young people don’t want to dress up for work,” says the owner of a software company, “so it’s hard to hire people if you have a conservative dress code.” Another reason is that people seem happier and more productive when they are wearing comfortable clothes. In a study conducted by Levi Strauss Company, 85 percent of employers said that they believe that casual dress improves employee morale(士气). Only 4 percent of employers said that casual dress has a negative effect on productivity. Supporters of casual office wear also argue that a casual dress code helps them save money. “Suits are expensive, if you have to wear one every day,” one person said. “For the same amount of money, you can buy a lot more casual clothes.”
【小题1】David Smith refers to himself as having been “a clothes addict,” because __________.
A.he often wore khaki pants and a sports shirt |
B.he couldn’t stand a clean appearance |
C.he wanted his clothes to look neat all the time |
D.he didn’t want to spend much money on clothes |
A.they make him feel at ease when working |
B.he cannot afford to buy expensive clothes |
C.he looks handsome in casual clothes |
D.he no longer works for any company |
A.Many employees don’t like a conservative dress code. |
B.Comfortable clothes make employees more productive. |
C.A casual clothes code is welcomed by young employees. |
D.All the employers in the U.S. are for casual office wear. |
A.Company workers started to dress down about twenty years ago. |
B.Dress-down has become an everyday phenomenon since the early 1990s. |
C.“Dress-down Friday” was first given as a favor from employers. |
D.Many workers want to wear casual clothes to impress people. |
A.saving employees’ money |
B.making employees more attractive |
C.improving employees’ motivation |
D.making employees happier |