1) Read through the article. What is it about? Choose the best answer. (reading for the main idea)
a) about the history of the American flag
b) about Ben Zaricor's flag collection
c) about the American flag's exhibition in San Francisco.
American Flag: A Living Symbol
New York, July 6, 2003
Flag collector Ben Zaricor has some 500 historic American flags.
And he says the fact that a flag may be 140 years old is no reason
not to run it up a flagpole. The flag from 1865 has the stars that are in the
shape of a star, one of the many different designs of the early Stars and
Stripes*.
Florida* resident Ruth Scully was sightseeing in San Francisco and
discovered Zaricor's flags. "That's beautiful, " she says. "I'm so impressed
that there's someone in this world that cares enough to preserve things.
Zaricor's collection includes the largest flag from the time of the Civil
War*. But in his collection, the earliest Stars and Stripes almost certainly
did not have 13 stars in a circle. "To sew an exact circle is one of the most
difficult things that you can do," Zaricor said. Instead, flag makers during
the American Revolution* kept the stars in straight lines. "We do know
that this four-five-four pattern is a revolutionary pattern, " he says. There
were, in fact, many flag patterns and few rules about how the stars and
stripes should be arranged.
Zaricor's affection for flags began when he was a boy. "I can remember
making flags out of bed sheets, my mother's bed sheets. And then sneaking
off to school and running them up the flagpole before the sun came up,"
he said. His collection includes a variety of flags such as a 17-star
abolitionist* flag, the first national Confederate, a flag that flew over
the battlefield at Appomattox* and the flag created from stamps by a World
War II veteran where the stars are postmarks from all 48 states.
Now, Ben Zaricor's flag collection is on exhibit in San Francisco.
For Zaricor, the flag is at its best when it unites rather than divides. He saw
that after September 11*. "The people started expressing themselves
through their flag again, in many ways that we hadn't seen before 9/11,"
says Zaricor.
2)
2) What did you learn about American flags? Decide if the following
statements are true or false according to the text. (reading for detail;
understanding the cultural context)
a) The American flag is also called the Stars and Stripes.
b) The American flag has gone through 500 changes in its history.
c) The American flag once had thirteen stars in a circle.
d) The American flag collection is displayed in San Francisco.
e) In 1865 the stars on the American flag were arranged in the sha-
pe of a star.
f) There are special rules about the arrangement of the stars and
stripes on the flag.
g) In the period of World War II there were 48 stars on the Ameri-
can flag.