Контроль читання або аудіювання 2 семестр 8 клас

The Golden Rush

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 began. 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 the dream. They all wanted to make 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.

Task 1. True or false?

1. A lot of men came to California to find gold.

2.They came there from all over the world.

3.Men came to California because it was easy to travel there.

4.Towns and cities were safe places at that time.

5.Food was very expensive in California.

6.In 1850 there were a lot of people so California became a state.

Task 2. Write short answers to these questions.

1. Where was the man digging?

2.When the gold rush had began?

3.Why were miners called forty-niners?

4.What building was in every town?

5.How much money did miners make?

6.What was the population of San Francisco?