It was January 1848. A man was digging
near the small village of San Francisco, California. Suddenly, he saw something
shiny--gold!
By the next year the California gold
rush had begun. Thousands of men came to California. They were called "forty-niners,"
after the year 1849. The forty-niners came from all around the United States.
They even came from other countries, including Mexico, Australia, China,
France, and England. They left their families and jobs, and made the difficult
trip to California. They all shared a dream. They all wanted to make a fortune
in gold.
Towns and camps grew quickly wherever
gold was found. These towns were rough places. There was almost always a
saloon, where the men drank whiskey and gambled at cards. In mining towns, men
stole and sometimes killed for gold.
Did the miners make their fortune? Some
did, especially those who came early and were lucky. In 1848, miners usually
made about twenty dollars a day. In 1852 miners made about six dollars a day.
Many other people came to California to make money from the miners. Prices were
very high. A loaf of bread, which cost five cents in New York, cost almost a
dollar in San Francisco.
In 1848 San Francisco had been a
village. Six years later it was a city with a population of 50,000. In 1850
California had enough people to become a state.
1. How long did the California gold rush last?
a. For a year
b. For a few years
c. For a few months
2. What name did people who came to California in period of gold rush have?
a. Forty-niners
b. Forty-eighters
c. Forty-seveners
3. What was the main goal for these people?
a. To become famous
b. To make a fortune
c. To become the richest
4. What was the result of gold rush?
a. People became much richer
b. People didn’t die because of dangerous illnesses
c. The population of California grew quickly
5. What can we say about the quality of life in California?
a. It was the best.
b. The prices were much bigger.
c. People didn’t have places to live.
6. How did people in California spend their free time?
a. They drank whiskey and played cards.
b. They didn’t have free time.
c. They played chess and cards.
7. What is the synonym for the word ‘gambled’ (paragraph 3)?
a. Played
b. Lied
c. Cheated
d. Watched
