It’s going to be a busy day at Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia on Thursday. She won’t be there, since she died in 1836, but hundreds of tourists will be going through her house.
You see, Thursday is Flag Day in the United States. The unofficial holiday commemorates the adoption of the stars-and-stripes design of the American flag by the Continental Congress 235 years ago, on June 14, 1777. According to lore, the Ross House is the birthplace of the nation’s flag. That’s open to debate, but it’s a story that schoolbooks still tell.Betsy Ross was a seamstress, busy sewing cushions for chairs in Philadelphia, which was the focus place of the American revolution against British rule.The Declaration of Independence by the colonists was signed there, and so was the new nation’s Constitution after independence was won.
Widowed when her husband, a member of the local militia, was killed in a gunpowder explosion, Betsy Ross often mended the clothes of the rebels’ leader and future U.S. president, George Washington. According to what some say in history and others a stretch of what really happened, Washington asked Ross to design and sew the new nation’s flag. The story was promoted by Ross grandson, who wrote that Betsy Ross had “made with her hands the first flag.” She became a role model for girls - a shining example of women’s contributions to the nation’s history. Most research indicates that Ross did sew the first flag. She’s credited with substituting artful five-point white stars for six-pointed ones in the upper-left blue field. But many other accounts indicate George Washington brought the design to Ross and simply asked her to stitch it together.
In a letter, Washington wrote: “We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her. And the white stripes shall go down to posterity as representing liberty.”
67. People would like to go to Ross’s house in Philadelphia to _____.
A. ask Betsy Ross who created the first American flag
B. meet her grandson who wrote a book about flags
C. debate over who designed the first American flag
D. remember her as the creator of the first American flag
68. Which statement is true according to the passage?
A. Betsy Ross was one of the people who signed The Declaration of Independence
B. All are in agreement that Ross designed the first American flag
C. It is almost certain that Ross did sew the first American flag
D. It is George Washington who designed the stars and stripes flag
69. The underlined the word “seamstress” in Paragraph 2 probably means_____.
A. a person who designs flags B. a person who makes a living by sewing
C. a person who takes part in revolution D. a person who creates chairs
70. What does the last paragraph imply according to the passage?
A. It implies that the U.S. is independent from Britain
B. It implies that Washington liked Ross’s design of the flag
C. It implies that Washington might be the designer of the flag
D. It implies that Ross did have helped with the design of the flag