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

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 construction<n建造> of a sawmill<n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