中石油2016通用英语选读课文32The Califonia Gold Rush加利福尼亚淘金热

32. The California Gold Rush

加利福尼亚淘金热

1.A chance discovery<偶然发现> by an employee of John A. Sutter,feudal baron<封建贵族> of the Sacramento Valley,set off<引起>the rush to California.In January 1848 James W. Marshall was supervising<监督，管理，指导> the construction of a sawmill in Coloma Valley,about 40 miles up the south fork<分叉> of the American River from Sutter 's Fort<城堡>.On the morning of the 24th,while inspecting<检查> work on the excavation<挖掘> of the channel<坑道，渠道> of the stream<溪流>,he noticed<注意到> the glint<闪烁> of metal on the bottom<底部> of it.Placing<放置>the flakes<薄片>in the dented<凹痕>crown<顶部> of his slouch hat<宽边软帽>,he excitedly rushed to the mill<工厂> and shouted,“Boys,I believe I’ve found a gold mine<金矿>.”

1.约翰?A?萨特是萨克拉门托谷的封建贵族，他的雇员的一个偶然发现引发了涌向加利福尼亚的人潮。1848年1月，詹姆士?W?马歇尔正在克罗马山谷监督锯木厂的工程，那里位于美利坚河南支流，距离萨特的城堡40英里。24日早晨，正当他检查河流上开掘的坑道时，注意到底部有一些闪亮的金属。他把这些亮片放在宽边软帽的帽檐上，激动地朝工厂跑去，边跑边喊：“天呐，我想我发现金矿了。”

2.After making tests at the mill for a few days and being unable to determine<确定> whether or not the flakes <薄片>were actually gold,Marshall carried a sample<样品> to his employer at the Fort.The two men tried every test that they could think of<想到> or that the American Encyclopedia<百科全书>suggested.Finally they proved that the sample was gold.In the course of time<经过一段时间后>it became a fact that Marshall had discovered a huge<巨大的> vein<矿脉>of gold-bearing quartz<石英> more than 150 miles in length that lay along<伸展> the western foothills<山麓> of the Sierra Nevada<内华达山脉>—the fabulous<寓言中的，神话般的，难以置信的> Mother Lode<主矿脉> of California.Weathering<风化作用> and erosion<侵蚀> had broken off<中断、破掉>particles<微粒>of the vein<矿脉>,carried them down mountain streams<山间小溪>,and deposited<沉积，沉淀> them in sandbars<沙洲> or rock crevices<缝隙，裂缝>.

2.经过几天的试验，马歇尔仍然无法确定这些小薄片是否就是黄金。于是他带着一些样品来到他雇主的城堡。他俩尝试了能够想到的、美利坚百科全书提供的所有办法，最终证明这些样品就是黄金。经过一段时间后，消息终于被证实，马歇尔发现了一个长达150英里的含有黄金的石英矿脉，这条矿脉沿着内华达山的西部山麓延伸，正是那条传说中的加利福尼亚主矿脉。由于风化和侵蚀作用，细小的矿物微粒从矿脉上剥落，被溪水冲刷下来，慢慢沉积在沙洲和岩石缝隙中。

3.Sutter could see that news of the gold discovery would spell<导致，意味着>disaster <灾难>to his other businesses—but such news could not be kept secret.In May an energetic<精力充沛的>San Francisco businessman and Mormon<摩门教徒>elder named Sam Brannan returned to<回到>the city from the diggings<矿区>.His appearance on the streets holding high a quinine<金鸡纳霜，奎宁，奎宁化合物> bottle full of glistening<闪闪发光的>gold dust and shouting,“Gold!Gold!Gold from the American River,”started the stampede<骚乱，惊跑>.Shopkeepers hung signs on their doors,“Gone to the Diggings.”Schools closed as teachers and pupils <学生>alike left.San Francisco became a ghost town<鬼城>:everyone headed toward <走向>the strike<罢工>.

3.萨特预见到发现金子的消息将会给他的其他生意带来灾难——但这样重大的消息不可能一直秘而不宣。5月份，山姆?布兰南，一位精力充沛的旧金山商人同时也是摩门教的长老，从矿区回到城市。他手里举着一个装满了闪闪发光金粉的金鸡纳霜瓶子，高声喊着：“金子！金子！美利坚河里的金子！”他的出现引发了街头的骚乱，一时间店主们纷纷关张，店门上挂出“已去矿区！”的牌子；学校也关闭了，因为老师和学生们都已离开。旧金山一瞬间变成了鬼城：所有人都罢工了。

4.At Monterey,Santa Barbara,San Diego,and other California settlements<聚居地>, soldiers deserted<遗弃，逃跑>their posts<岗位>, sailors abandoned<放弃> ships,lawyers left clients,and editors suspended<暂缓、暂停>publication of newspapers.And before the end of the year gold seekers had already arrived from Hawaii，Mexico,British Columbia,and South America.

4.在蒙特利、圣巴巴拉、圣迭戈，以及其他加利福尼亚的聚居地上，士兵们离开了岗位，水手们弃船而走，律师们放弃了客户，编辑们推迟了报纸的出版。到那年的年尾，淘金者们纷纷从夏威夷、墨西哥、大不列颠哥伦比亚甚至南美洲涌向这里。

5.Westward Ho 5.西行记

6.Stories of the discovery gradually<逐渐地>drifted<漂泊，流动> to the Eastern United States,but most people dismissed<不承认，拒接接受>them as rumor<谣言>.Then in December 1848 they were confirmed<确认>.President<总统>Polk included official telegrams<电报> from California in his message to Congress<国会> and stated,“The accounts of the abundance<丰富>of gold in that territory<领域>are of such an extraordinary<特别的，非常惊奇的>character as would scarcely<几乎不> command belief were they not corroborated<使坚固，确证> by the authentic<真正的、可信的> reports of officers in the public service.”Two days later a Government messenger<送信者> arrived in Washington with a tea caddy<茶叶罐，小盒子> full of gold.Sanityvanished.The tea caddy did for the Nation what Sam Brannan's

quinine bottle had done for San Francisco.

6.发现金子的故事逐渐传到了美国的东海岸，但大部分人认为它是个谣言。1848年12月，消息终于被确认。波尔克总统将加利福尼亚发来的政府电报加到给国会的信息中：“尽管那个地区金矿储量惊人，但如果公共服务部门的官员没有用可信的报道强化它们的话，这个信息也很难被公众相信。”两天之后，政府的信使带着一个装满金子的茶叶盒抵达华盛顿。一瞬间人们的理智土崩瓦解，这个茶叶盒对这个国家所起的作用就像山姆的金鸡纳霜瓶子对旧金山的作用。

7.Within<在...之内> a month,eager<渴望的> gold seekers chartered<租> more than 60 ships,some of doubtful<不能确定的> age and condition,and weighed anchor<锚> for California.The New York Herald<《纽约先驱论坛报》>,in a special California edition,stated:“In every Atlantic<大西洋>seaport<港口>,vessels<船舶>are being fitted up<准备装备>,societies<团体>are being formed,husbands are preparing to leave their wives,sons are parting with<离别> their mothers,and bachelors<单身> are leaving their comforts;all are rushing head over heels toward the El Dorado<黄金之国> on the Pacific<太平洋>.”Whenever and wherever men gathered that winter the talk was of California and the riches to be found there.

7.—个月之内，急不可耐的淘金者们租了60多艘船起航向加利福尼亚行进，尽管其中一些船的年限和状况都令人担忧。《纽约先驱论坛报》在加州特刊上写到：“大西洋的每个港口都聚集着满载的船只，人们集合成团体，丈夫准备离开妻子，儿子正告别母亲，而单身汉们正放弃自己的舒适生活。所有人都一门心思地朝太平洋的黄金之国进发。”不论何处、不论何时，那个冬季人们聚在一起时的话题都离不开加州和那里的财富。

8.Routes<路径> To The Goldfields 8.通往采金区的道路

9.The gold seekers used four principal routes to California,two each by sea and land.Easterners mainly used the sea routes,and residents<居民> of the Mississippi Valley and Southerners the land routes.

9.淘金者们通过四条道路前往加州，两条海路，两条陆路。东部的人主要选择海路，而密西西比河谷和南方人主要选择陆路。

10.The most popular way to California was overland<陆上的>,either by the central or southern trails<山路>.

10.而人们最常走的是通过中部或南部的山路。

11.Tens of thousands<成千上万>of “forty-niners” flocked<群集，涌入>to the embarkation<登船，装载> towns—Independence,St.Joseph,Westport,and Kanesville—and waited until the grass along the trail was high enough to hold the stock<囤积、库存，家畜>.Then the great wagon<货车> trains rolled out on the prairie<大草

原>,climbed steadily<稳定地> until they crossed South Pass,then dropped down<下行、向下> to the Great Basin desert<沙漠>.Those who thought that nothing was so deadly<极端的，非常的> as plodding<单调乏味的> through the choking<窒息的>dust<灰尘> of the desert forgot that annoyance<烦恼>when they met the hardships<拼命>of passing wagons and oxen<牛>over the Sierra and then lowering them by rope<绳索> down deep canyons<峡谷>.

11.成千上万的“四九人们/淘金者们”蜂拥到出发的小镇—因第彭登、圣约瑟夫、韦斯特波以及肯斯维尔。他们聚集在那里等待着，等待着沿途的草长大，就可以给牲口提供充足的食物。然后，浩浩荡荡的车队在大草原上出发了，他们一直缓坡而上穿过南通道，然后下行进入大盆地的沙漠。开始有人认为没有什么能比穿过沙尘飞扬的沙漠更单调乏味了，但当他们到达山脊时就很快忘记了沙漠的艰难，因为他们必须拼命把牛车和牲口赶上山，然后又用绳子把他们送下深谷。

12.Other gold seekers,especially Southerners,moved west by way of the southern trails.Drawing traffic from the Santa Fe Trail and the west Texas trails,the chief<主要的> route followed the wagon<四轮马车>road blazed<在树皮上刻路标>by Lt. Colonel Philip St. George Cooke from the Rio Grande by way of the Gila to the Pacific during the Mexican War<墨西哥战争>.It offered the advantages of few mountain ranges and a milder<温和的> climate.

12.另一些淘金者，尤其是南方人，沿着南部山路一直向西。圣菲贸易通道和西德克萨斯通道交汇在主路上，这条路是墨西哥战争期间由圣乔治库克的菲利普上校标注的牛车道，从格兰德河经由基拉到达太平洋。这条路线山路较少而且气候温和。

13.Whatever their route,those who finally<最终>arrived at the gold mines after the 2,000-mile overland trip,which usually required<必需> 5 or 6 months,had faced<面对> a severe test.Only the hardiest survived trail https://www.360docs.net/doc/d28008303.html,tic cholera<亚洲霍乱>alone in 1849 marked the central trails with 5,000 graves<坟墓>before the wagons<车队> reached the Rocky Mountains.But the dangers and privations<困苦，窘困>—on land or at sea—were all forgotten upon arrival at the goldfields.There the newcomers found those who had arrived earlier working every large stream<河流> along the Mother Lode,from the Feather to the Tuolumne Rivers.Tent<帐篷> camps<营地> sprang up<跳起来> everywhere as the forty-niners,washing pan<淘洗盘> in hand,set out to seek<寻找> the riches so widely reported.A few lucky souls did find wealth,but the majority were quickly disappointed.

13.不论走哪条路线，人们需要五六个月的时间，跋涉2000英里的陆路，经历严峻的考验之后才能到达矿山，只有那些最强壮的人才能活下来。1849年中部路线上流行亚洲霍乱，牛车队到达落基山脉之前就在路边留下了5000座新坟。当人们经由陆路或海

路到达金矿时，一路上的危险与窘困都被抛到了九霄云外。抢先一步到达的人们挖掘主矿脉上的每一条河流，从费勒河到图奥乐米河。淘金者们带上淘洗盘出发去寻找财富，沿途的帐篷营地随处可见。只有一些极幸运者找到了财富，但绝大多数人都很快失望了。