中石油2016通用英语选读课文32TheCalifoniaGoldRush加利福尼亚淘金热.docVIP

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 the rush to California.In January 1848 James W. Marshall was supervising监督，管理，指导 the constructionn建造 of a sawmilln锯木厂，锯木机 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 thewere 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