托福听力短文 II-08-3

(W-JA) Today, I want to talk about the Cariboo gold rush of 1858, which began when gold was discovered in the frontier town of Quesnel [k-NEL] Forks in the Canadian province of British Columbia. By 1861 thousands of men had flocked to the region hoping to strike it rich. Naturally, as the town grew, supplies had to be brought in, and this was done with mules².

Now the mules were quite reliable, but there were some drawbacks. For example, a mule¹ carrying a heavy load could travel only 15 miles in a day --- meaning that a typical trip into Quesnel could take as long as 20 days. So, as the demand for supplies continued to grow, a group of merchants and packers decided³ to try a new approach --- believe it or not, they shipped in a herd⁴ of camels. I know that sounds strange, but camel trains had been used quite effectively during the California gold rush some 10 years earlier.

But the results in the Cariboo region weren't quite the same. In fact it was a disaster. The camels couldn't carry the heavier loads the merchants expected them to. Their two-toed feet were perfect for desert travel, but they weren't suited for Cariboo's rugged⁵ mountain terrain⁶. To make matters worse, the mules became very agitated⁷ whenever they came across a camel --- and that caused a lot of accidents on the treacherous⁸ mountain trails. The mulepackers went so far as to threaten the camel owners with a lawsuit⁹. But the reason the merchants finally got rid of the camels is because these animals simply weren't cut out for the job.

1 mule   

n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人

参考例句：

• A mule is a cross between a mare and a donkey.骡子是母马和公驴的杂交后代。
• He is an old mule.他是个老顽固。

2 mules   

骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者

参考例句：

• The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
• She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

5 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。

6 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

7 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

8 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

9 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。