VOA标准英语2010年-There Was Gold in Them Thar Hills

This mining school, complete with sled dogs, was set up in Seattle as a training site for potential Klondike prospectors¹.

Lots of Americans have heard of the Klondike because of a popular ice-cream bar named after the place.

It's in Canada, so we could call this essay Only in Canada. But the Klondike is right next to Alaska, and its moment in the sun is mostly an American story.

 

It begins 113 years ago in what was then a dusty little river town of Seattle in the relatively² new state of Washington. In the dead of night — three o'clock in the morning — one July day, a steamship³ docked after a trip from Alaska. Later that day, the Seattle newspaper printed a one-sentence item on the arrival that changed the course of history in the American Northwest.

Library of Congress
This old movie poster isn't much of a stretch when it comes to depicting⁴ the scope and rigors⁵ of the Klondike Gold Rush.

The newspaper reported that the steamship carried, in addition to 68 passengers, more than a ton of gold. It turned out to be more than TWO tons, carried in suitcases, boxes, and gunny sacks.

The 68 passengers were miners returning from the Klondike River in Canada's Yukon Territory. They had found nuggets of gold as big as walnuts⁶ in a Klondike riverbed.

Once the people in Seattle read that story, every seat aboard the steamship's RETURN trip was booked within minutes. A great Klondike Gold Rush was on.

Over the next few years, more than 100,000 people would leave Seattle to seek their fortunes in the Klondike gold fields. 

National Park Service
Just as San Francisco became a boomtown supplying prospectors heading into the California gold camps, stores like Cooper & Levy⁷ Pioneer Outfitters thrived during the Klondike frenzy⁸ a half century later.

They loaded up on provisions, because the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who met them at the border, declared that no one could enter the Yukon without at least one YEAR's worth of food, tools, and blankets. That meant everyone setting off to strike it rich was loaded down with at least a ton of supplies.  

Of the 100,000 who left Seattle, only 40,000 reached the gold fields. Some of them, and thousands of pack animals, died in the rugged⁹ mountain passes.  Only about 4,000 miners found gold, 400 panned enough to be considered wealthy, and only 50 — 50 out of 100,000 — managed to keep their wealth and remain rich the rest of their lives.

The story is told at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in the heart of Seattle, and another branch of the museum up in Skagway — 1,800 kilometers away in Alaska. The Klondike area itself in Yukon Territory is almost deserted¹⁰.

 

1 prospectors   

n.勘探者，探矿者( prospector的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The prospectors have discovered such minerals as calcite,quartz and asbestos here. 探矿人员在这里发现了方解石、石英、石棉等矿藏。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The prospectors have discovered many minerals here. 探矿人员在这里发现了许多矿藏。 来自辞典例句

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 steamship   

n.汽船，轮船

参考例句：

• The return may be made on the same steamship.可乘同一艘汽船当天回来。
• It was so foggy that the steamship almost ran down a small boat leaving the port.雾很大，汽艇差点把一只正在离港的小船撞沉。

4 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

5 rigors   

严格( rigor的名词复数 )； 严酷； 严密； （由惊吓或中毒等导致的身体）僵直

参考例句：

• The rigors of that lonely land need no further description. 生活在那个穷乡僻壤的困苦是无庸赘言的。
• You aren't ready for the rigors of industry. 你不适合干工业的艰苦工作了。

6 walnuts   

胡桃（树）( walnut的名词复数 )； 胡桃木

参考例句：

• Are there walnuts in this sauce? 这沙司里面有核桃吗？
• We ate eggs and bacon, pickled walnuts and cheese. 我们吃鸡蛋，火腿，腌胡桃仁和干酪。

7 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

8 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

9 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

10 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。