英語聽力材料《牛仔褲》

不知從什麼時候開始。牛仔褲就已經佔領了人們服裝的大半衣櫃，尤其是在年輕人當中，這種現象更加明顯。下面，我們通過一篇英語聽力材料走進西方牛仔褲的世界。

In a Moment of Vision...

當靈感來臨時...

It's the height of the Gold Rush, 1850s, California. A young tailor named Jacob Davis noticesthat his gold-mining customers are wearing through pants faster than they can patch them. Ina moment of vision, Davis adds reinforcing metal rivets to his pant design, strategically placingthem at points of strain, like the corners of pockets and the base of the fly.

當時是淘金熱最高峯，1850 年代的加州。有一位名叫 Jacob Davis 的年輕裁縫，他注意到他那些開採金礦的顧客們把褲子穿破的速度比他們補褲子還快。靈機一動，Davis 在褲子設計中加入加強的金屬鉚釘，策略地將鉚釘放在受拉扯的點上，象是口袋角落和拉鍊底部。

The enhanced trousers are soon in high demand. In order to take out a patent on the highlysuccessful riveted pant, Davis needs a business partner. He approaches the supplier of hiscloth, a dry goods merchant by the name of Levi Strauss. Strauss and Davis beginmanufacturing pants out of denim and continue to modify the design to accommodate theircustomers. It is rumored that the removal of the crotch rivet was due to a complaint from theminers that squatting too near a campfire in their typical "underwear-free fashion" could bepainful.

強化版的褲子很快就大受歡迎。為了取得這件極為成功的'鉚釘褲的專利，Davis 需要一位合夥人。他找上他的布料供應商，一位叫作 Levi Strauss 的布商。Strauss 和 Davis 開始用丹寧布製造褲子，並持續改良設計來符合客户需求。有傳聞説拿掉褲襠處的鉚釘是因為礦工們的抱怨，他們説以他們平常「不穿內褲的風格」，這樣蹲離營火太近時會痛痛的。

Jeans continued to be modified and diversified over the years, eventually becoming aneveryday fashion item for both work and play by the 1960s. Today, 96 percent of Americanconsumers own at least one, if not many, pairs of jeans.

牛仔褲多年來不斷改良並有更多樣貌，最後在 1960 年代成為工作和玩樂都能穿的日常時尚單品。現在，有百分之九十六的美國消費者就算沒有很多件，也至少擁有一件牛仔褲。