Question

mary’s flag
betsy ross is recognized as having sewn the first american flag. but there is another famous american flag maker whose work is also honored in the united states. mary young pickersgill was born on february 12, 1776. her parents were william and rebecca young of philadelphia, pennsylvania. she was the youngest of their five children. as the british were advancing in september 1777, during the revolutionary war, mary’s family was forced to leave their home. she was 18 months old when her family moved to lebanon, pennsylvania, with all their household goods.
mary’s uncle helped her family find a place to live in philadelphia. soon after moving, rebecca young, mary’s mother, advertised her flag - making business in philadelphia newspapers. during the revolutionary war, she was the only person to advertise as a flag maker. she had made the flag that flew over george washington’s headquarters on january 1, 1776. she was able to support her family with this occupation.
at the age of 19, mary married john pickersgill in baltimore on october 2, 1795. john, a u.s. government employee, traveled to
what can the reader conclude from the information in this passage?
○ mary did not like to sew large projects.
○ mary sewed the fort mchenry flag by herself.
○ mary was able to complete the flag in six weeks.
○ mary allowed a nearby business to sew the fort mchenry flag for her.

Explanation:

• Option A: The passage doesn't mention Mary's feelings about large projects, so this is not supported.
• Option B: The passage states Mary was the only one advertising as a flag - maker and made the flag for Washington's headquarters, but there's no info about her sewing the Fort McHenry flag alone.
• Option C: The passage has no information about the time Mary took to complete a flag.
• Option D: The passage says Mary was able to support her family with her flag - making occupation, and it's reasonable to conclude that she might have allowed a nearby business to sew the Fort McHenry flag for her (though not directly stated, it's the most plausible among the options as the other options are clearly not supported by the passage).

Answer:

D. Mary allowed a nearby business to sew the Fort McHenry flag for her.