Dawson City【道森市】

Dawson City

Cities usually have a good reason for being where they are, like a nearby port or river.

城市之所以存在于它们所在的地方通常有一个很好的理由，比如附近就是港口或河流。

People settle in these places because they are easy to get to and naturally suited to communications and trade.

人们在这些地方定居是因为交通便利，而且天然适合交流和贸易。

New York City, for example, is near a large harbour at the mouth of the Hudson River.

比如纽约市就靠近哈德逊河河口的一个大港口。

Over 300 years its population grew gradually from 800 people to 8 million.

300多年来，那里的人口从800人逐渐增长到了800万人。

But not all cities develop slowly over a long period of time. Boom towns grow from nothing almost overnight.

但是不是所有的城市都是长时间缓慢发展而来的。新兴城市可以一夜之间突然冒出来。

In 1896, Dawson, Canada, was unmapped wilderness.

1896年，加拿大的道森是在地图上找不到的一篇荒野。

But gold was discovered there in 1897, and two years later, it was one of the largest cities

in the West, with a population of 30,000.

然而1897年那里发现了金子，两年之后，道森成了西部最大的城市，拥有三万人口。

Dawson did not have any of the natural conveniences of cities like London of Paris.

道森没有像伦敦或巴黎那样便利的自然条件。

People went there for gold. They travelled over snow-covered mountains and sailed

hundreds of miles up icy rivers.

人们去那里是为了金子。他们穿越积雪覆盖的山脉，沿着结冰的河流航行数百英里。

The path to Dawson was covered with thirty feet of wet snow that could fall without warming.

去道森的路上覆盖着三十英尺厚的湿雪，即使不暖和，湿雪也会陷下去。

An avalanche once closed the path, killing 63 people.

曾经有一次雪崩阻断了道路，造成了63人死亡。

For many who made it to Dawson, howere, the rewards were worth the difficult trip.

然而对于最终到达道森的很多人来说，这次艰难的旅行是值得的。

Of the first 20,000 people who dug for gold, 4,000 got rich. About 100 of these stayed

rich men for the rest of their lives.

在最初的2万淘金者中，有4000人致富。这些人中大约有100人在他们的余生里都是有钱人。

But no matter how rich they were, Dawson was never comfortable. Necessities like food

and wood were very expensive.

但是无论他们多有钱，道森从来不是一个舒适的地方。像食物和木材这样的必需品非常昂贵。

But soon, the gold that Dawson depended on had all been found.

但是很快，道森所依赖的所有金子都被淘光了。

The city was crowded with disappointed people with no interest in settling down, and when

they heard there were new gold discoveries in Alaska, they left Dawson City as quickly as they had come.

整个城市挤满了没有兴趣定居在此的失望的人，当他们听说阿拉斯加发现了新的金矿时，他们

迅速离开了道森，就像来时一样匆匆。

Today, people still come and go-to see where the Canadian gold rush happened.

现在人们仍然来了又走--想看看加拿大淘金热发生的地方。

Tourism is now the chief industry of Dawson City-its present population is 762.

旅游业是道森市的主要产业--他目前的人口为762人。

2018年全国III卷B

文中单词

单词	释义	单词	释义
disappointed	adj.失望的	crowded	adj.拥挤的；塞满的
gold rush	淘金热	tourism	n.旅游；旅游业
industry	n.工业，产业，勤劳	avalanche	n.雪崩；大量拥挤；v.崩塌
wilderness	n.荒野；荒地	unmapped	adj.未绘制地图的
harbour	n.港湾；港口;v.包庇	necessities	n.必需品
conveniences	n.方便	chief	adj.主要的；首席的；n.老板