Ex.10. Перепишите и письменно переведите 2, 3 и 4 абзацы текста.

GOLD RUSH

Ex.9. Прочитайте текст, устно переведите его и выполните упражнения, данные ниже.

Ex.8. Поставьте сказуемые, данные в скобках, в отрицательную форму. Предложения перепишите и переведите.

Ex.7. Перепишите и переведите данные словосочетания, обращая внимание на особенности перевода определений, выраженных существительными.

1) labor productivity increase 6) interest rate cuts

2) debtor creditor relationships 7) seven-day goods delivery

3) economy recovery problem 8) product quality index

4) revenue growth prospects 9) salary deduction

5) European Union member-countries 10) oil production decline

1) Less developed countries got political independence more than 50 years ago, but they [have reached] a high level of living standards of industrialized countries yet.

2)The level of living [varies] greatly in main industrialized countries, it is relatively the same.

3) A bank [will grant] you a loan to start a company if you [have] a business plan.

4) The goods produced by the members of the European Economic Community [are subjected] to high taxes and sometimes are duty-free.

5) He lent me the money but he [trusted] me completely and asked me to give him an IOU.

[1] Since the very beginning of civilization, gold has been regarded as a symbol of power and wealth. In many societies, gold was seen as a magic substance, which could protect people against illness or evil spirits. Gold has always been a beacon¹ for explorers and adventurers as well as a lure for thieves and conquerors. Humankind never seems to have enough gold and the search for it has men mad. The need to search for gold has been compared to a disease, and is called ‘gold fever’. It occurs when thousands of fortune hunters rush to where gold is discovered.

Large gold rushes happened in the United States, Canada, Australia, and South Africa in the 19^th century. The first and most famous gold rush in North America began in California on Jan. 24, 1848 when gold was accidentally discovered at the sawmill of John Sutter.

[2] John Sutter emigrated from Switzerland to California in 1839. California was then a Mexican province, and from its governor he gained title to land² in order to found a settlement named New Switzerland at the meeting point³ of the Sacramento and American rivers. He took possession of 50,000 acres, and 10 years later, he was a prosperous rancher. After the Mexican War of 1846–48, California became a part of the United States and Sutter's future seemed assured. Then, suddenly, events turned against him.

[3] On the morning of Jan. 24, 1848, one of his employees, James Marshall, discovered gold at the site of a sawmill construction. Marshall and Sutter agreed to become partners in mining the gold, but soon the news of this find leaked out⁴ and quickly spread all over the country. Thousands of farmers, sailors, lawyers, preachers, and people from nearly every other occupation – all of whom wanted to find the gold and to strike it rich⁵ rushed to this part of California. They were known as ‘forty-niners’⁶. Within a year, about 80,000 forty-niners flooded into California and in the process, they built up northern California and the city of San Francisco.

[4] The gold rush of 1849 played a significant role in the social and economic development of California. It was an important factor in turning the region into a thriving⁷ U.S. state. Although the average production of the gold fields was barely 15.6 grams per man per day, some 77.8 million grams of gold passed through buyers' and dealers' hands in one year. After a few years, the gold fever faded, and there were few new finds, but gold is still found in California from time to time.

[5] There were many other smaller gold rushes in North America. They happened in British Columbia in 1858, Nevada in 1859–60, Colorado in the late 1850s and 1890s, and South Dakota in 1876–78. The last main goldstrike⁸ of the 19^th century took place in the frozen north, in the Yukon Territory of Canada. In the whole history of humankind’s desire for gold, the Klondike gold rush has probably fired the imagination⁹ of more people than any other event. Jack London and Robert Service are two of the authors who wrote of the inaccessibility of the region and its terrible climate. Yet, even with the worst that the environment could muster against them, the diggers extractedmillions of dollars in gold.

Rich gold-bearing gravels¹⁰ were found in the area between the Yukon and Klondike rivers in about 1896. Within four years, about 30,000 people arrived to this inhospitable region. The annual output of gold reached a peak of 22 million dollars in 1900. Production steadily declined after that, until it fell to 5.6 million dollars in 1906. By 1910, most of the diggers had left for Alaska and other regions.

In the North America of the 19^th century, the gold mining was individual enterprise. The diggers, either alone or in very small groups, mined gold and reaped profits. With the end of the gold rush period, the mining was largely taken over by corporations and governments.

Notes: 1) beacon – перен. путеводная звезда

2) to gain title to land – получить право на владение землей

3) at the meeting point – на пересечении

4) to leak out – стать известным; просочиться

5) to strike it rich – неожиданно разбогатеть

6) forty-niner – золотоискатель [прибывший в Калифорнию в 1849 г.]

7) thriving – бурно развивающийся

8) goldstrike – открытие месторождения золота

9) to fire smb.'s imagination – захватить чьё-л. воображение, вызывать чью-л. фантазию

10) gold-bearing gravels – залежи золотоносного песка

Ex.11. Ответьте на поставленные вопросы, выбрав правильный вариант(ы).

1) When does a gold rush usually occur?

a) when a new gold deposit is discovered

b) when people begin to buy up a lot of jewelry

c) when thousands of diggers rush to where gold is discovered

2) When did the first and most famous gold rush in North America begin?

a) when John Sutter emigrated from Switzerland to California

b) when James Marshall discovered gold-bearing gravel at the site of a sawmill construction

c) at the time of the Mexican War

3) Why did thousands of people rush to California in 1849?

a) to have a rest

b) to find a job

c) to strike it rich

4) What was the average production of the gold fields in California?

a) a little more than 15 grams of gold per man per day

b) a little less that 15 grams of gold per man per day

c) about 77.8 million grams of gold per man per day

5) Where did the last main gold rush of the 19^th century take place?

a) in Nevada

b) in South Dakota

c) in the Yukon Territory of Canada

6) Who was engaged in the gold mining in the 19^th century?

a) private multinational corporations

b) gold diggers, either alone or in very small groups

c) only state-owned companies

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