Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 23 to 30.
Today, the most universally known style of trousers for both men and women is jeans; these trousers are worn throughout the world on a variety of occasions and in diverse situations. Also called “levis” or “denims”, jeans have an interesting history, one that is intermixed with the derivations of the words; jeans, denims, and levis.
The word “jeans” is derived from the name of the place where a similar style of pants developed. In the sixteenth century, sailors from Genoa, Italy, wore a rather unique type of cotton trousers. In the French language, the word for the city of Genoa and for the people from that city is Genes; this name became attached to the specific style of pants worn by the sailors from this city and developed into the word jeans that today describes the descendants of the Genovese sailors' cotton pants.
Similar to the word “jeans”, the word “denim” is also derived from a place name. In the seventeenth century, French tailors began making trousers out of a specialized type of cloth that was developed in the city of Nimes, France, and was known as serge de Nimes. This name for the cloth underwent some transformations, and it eventually became today's denim, the material from which jeans are made and an alternate name for these popular pants.
The word “levis” came from the name of a person rather than a place. In the nineteenth century, immigrant Levi Strauss came to America and tried his hand at selling heavy canvas to miners taking part in the hunt for gold in northern California. Strauss intended for this canvas to be used by miners to make heavy-duty tents. This first attempt was a failure, but Strauss later found success when he used the heavy canvas to make indestructible pants for the miners. Levi then switched the fabric from brown canvas to blue denim, creating a style of pants that long outlived him and today is referred to by his name. A modern-day urban shopper out to buy some levis is searching for a close relative of the product that Strauss had developed years earlier.
(Adapted from TOEFL reading)
