2007年VOA标准英语-California Gold Rush Town has Multicultural Her

By Mike O'Sullivan
Jackson, California
24 April 2007

The colorful history of the Gold Rush is being kept alive in a handful of towns in the Western U.S. state of California. VOA's Mike O'Sullivan has more from the town of Jackson, a multicultural¹ community in the heart of California's gold country.

Not far from here, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in 1848, and towns sprung up along the gold belt, called the Mother Lode², in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. One of the liveliest towns was Jackson.

Larry Cenotto

Local historian Larry Cenotto says the lure³ of gold attracted people from many countries.

"There were a lot of French that were here in the early days," said Larry Cenotto. "Of course, an awful of Italians, a lot of Jewish merchants. I mean, Main Street in Jackson in the 1850s was at least half Jewish merchants. So [you had] an incredible society."

A walk through the city reveals its mixed heritage, with 19th century cemeteries⁴ for the city's German Jews, Irish Catholics, and British Protestant residents. A Serbian Orthodox church dates to the 1890s.

Longtime resident Gino Ricci says his Italian family was part of a polyglot⁵ culture.

"You had a lot of Chinese, everything," said Gino Ricci. "We had all kinds of nationalities in here and they all got along. It was really a melting pot, but it was a good melting pot."

Ricci, now 84, is the town's only remaining barber. His father opened a barber shop here in 1913, and Ricci joined the business in 1941. He has seen the town flourish with mining, and later with timber. Through it all, there was gambling⁶ and there were houses of prostitution, illegal but tolerated until the 1950s.

"And we had the houses and we had gambling and we had no problems," he said. "Everything was just as smooth as silk."

Today, says Ricci dismissively, this is just a tourist town without its old excitement. But merchant Barbara Wierschem, who sells candy and ice cream, says it is a great place for visiting families.

"They like the oldness of the town, you know, the buildings, and people are all warm and friendly in the businesses," said Barbara Wierschem. "They like going to the gold mines, and also there are a lot of caverns⁷ up here that they go visit."

Larry Cenotto is a newcomer to Jackson, relatively⁸ speaking. He arrived in 1964 as a newspaper reporter, attracted by the town's friendliness⁹. He says that living here, he got to know people as people, not just as part of the landscape, which he says is often the case in bigger cities.

"In small towns, you quickly learn that these are people, and you're going to see them again tomorrow, and the next day and the next day, and so you need to get along and understand them and then begin to value them," he said.

For Jackson's 4,000 residents, life today is quiet, but visitors passing through California's Mother Lode country can hear tales of more boisterous¹⁰ times when the world descended¹¹ on Jackson in search of gold.

1 multicultural   

adj.融合多种文化的，多种文化的

参考例句：

• Children growing up in a multicultural society.在多元文化社会中长大的孩子们。
• The school has been attempting to bring a multicultural perspective to its curriculum.这所学校已经在尝试将一种多元文化视角引入其课程。

2 lode   

n.矿脉

参考例句：

• We discovered the rich lode bellied out.我们发现丰富的矿脉突然增大了。
• A lode of gold was discovered。他们发现了一处黄金矿藏。

3 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

4 cemeteries   

n.（非教堂的）墓地，公墓( cemetery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like. 不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In other districts the proximity of cemeteries seemed to aggravate the disease. 在其它地区里，邻近墓地的地方，时疫大概都要严重些。 来自辞典例句

5 polyglot   

adj.通晓数种语言的；n.通晓多种语言的人

参考例句：

• He was a round old man with a guttural,polyglot accent.他是一位肥胖的老人,讲话时带有多种语言混合的多喉音的声调。
• Thanks to his polyglot aptitude,he made rapid progress.由于他有学习语言的天才，他学习的进度很快。

6 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

7 caverns   

大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Within were dark caverns; what was inside them, no one could see. 里面是一个黑洞，这里面有什么东西，谁也望不见。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• UNDERGROUND Under water grottos, caverns Filled with apes That eat figs. 在水帘洞里，挤满了猿争吃无花果。

8 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。

9 friendliness   

n.友谊，亲切，亲密

参考例句：

• Behind the mask of friendliness,I know he really dislikes me.在友善的面具后面，我知道他其实并不喜欢我。
• His manner was a blend of friendliness and respect.他的态度友善且毕恭毕敬。

10 boisterous   

adj.喧闹的，欢闹的

参考例句：

• I don't condescend to boisterous displays of it.我并不屈就于它热热闹闹的外表。
• The children tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play.孩子们经常是先静静地聚集在一起，不一会就开始吵吵嚷嚷戏耍开了。

11 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。