【正文】 .. . . ..人教版英語選修8課文原文及課文譯文Unit1 Alandofdiversity 第一單元 一個多元文化的國土ReadingCALIFORNIA California is the third largest state in the USA but has the largest population. It also has the distinction of being the most multicultural state in the USA, having attracted people from all over the world. The customs and languages of the immigrants live on in their new home. This diversity of culture is not surprising when you know the history of California.NATIVE AMERCANS Exactly when the first people arrived in what we now know as California, no one really knows. However, it is likely that Native Americans were living in California at least fifteen thousand years ago. Scientists believe that these settlers crossed the Bering Strait in the Arctic to America by means of a land bridge which existed in prehistoric times. In the 16th century, after the arrival of the Europeans, the native people suffered greatly. Thousands were killed or forced into slavery. In addition, many died from the diseases brought by the Europeans. However, some survived these terrible times, and today there are more Native Americans living in California than in any other state.THE SPANISH In the 18th century California was ruled by Spain. Spanish soldiers first arrived in South America in the early 16th century, when they fought against the native people and took their land. Two centuries later, the Spanish had settled in most parts of South America and along the northwest coast of what we now call the United States. Of the first Spanish to go to California, the majority were religious men, whose ministry was to teach the Catholic religion to the natives. In 1821, the people of Mexico gained their independence from Spain. California then became part of Mexico. In 1846 the United States declared war on Mexico, and after the war won by the USA, Mexico had to give California to the USA. However, there is still a strong Spanish influence in the state. That is why today over 40 of Californians speak Spanish as a first or second language.RUSSIANS In the early 1800s, Russian hunters, who had originally gone to Alaska, began settling in California. Today there are about 25,000 RussianAmericans living in and around San Francisco.GOLD MINERS In 1848, not long after the AmericanMexican war, gold was discovered in California. The dream of being rich quickly attracted people from all over the world. The nearest, and therefore the first to arrive, were South Americans and people from the United States. Then adventurers from Europe and Asia soon followed. In fact, few achieved their dream of being rich. Some died or returned home, but most remained in California to make a life for themselves despite great hardship. They settled in the new towns or on farms. By the time California elected to bee the thirtyfirst federal state of the USA in 1850, it was already a multicultural society.LATER A RRIVALS Although Chinese immigrants began to arrive during the Gold Rush Period, it was the building of the rail network from the west to the east coast that brought even larger numbers to California in the 1860s. Today, ChineseAmericans live in all parts of California, although a large percentage have chosen to stay in the Chinatowns of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Other immigrants such as Italians, mainly fishermen but also wine makers, arrived in California in the late 19th century. In 1911 immigrants from Denmark established a town of their own, which today still keeps up their Danish culture. By the 1920s the film industry was well established in Hollywood, California. The industry boom attracted Europeans including many Jewish people. Today California has the second largest Jewish population in the United farmers began arriving in California at the beginning of the 20th century, and since the 1980s a lot more have settled there. People from Africa have been living in California since the 1800s, when they moved north from Mexico. However, even more arrived between 1942 and 1945 to work in the ship and aircraft industries.MOST RECENT ARRIVALS In more recent decades, California has bee home to more people from Asia, including Koreans, Cambodians, Vietnamese and Laotians. Since its beginning in the 1970s, the puter industry has attracted Indians and Pakistanis to California.THE FUTURE People from different parts of the world, attracted by the climate and the lifestyle, still immigrate to California. It is believed that before long the mix of nationalities will be so great that there will be no distinct major racial or cultural groups, but simply a mixture of many races and cultures.加利福尼亞 加利福尼亞是美國的第三大州，而且是人口最多的州。加州與眾不同之處在于它也是美國最具多元文化的一個州，它吸引了來自世界各地的人們。這些移民的風俗習慣以及語言在他們的新家都得以延續(xù)。當你了解了加利福尼亞的歷史后，你就不會對此感到驚訝了。美洲土著人 最早的一批人具體是在什么時候來到我們現(xiàn)在所知道的加利福尼亞地區(qū)的，誰也說不清楚。然而，很可能至少在15 ,000年以前美洲土著人就住在加利福尼亞了?？茖W家們認為，這些遷居者通過一條史前時代曾經(jīng)存在的大陸橋穿越北極地區(qū)的白令海峽到達美洲。歐洲人在16世紀來到這兒后，土著人遭受了極大的苦難，成千上萬的人被殺害或被迫成為奴隸。此外，歐洲人帶來了疾病，使許多人染病而死，不過，還是有一些人在經(jīng)歷了這些恐怖時期后活下來了。今天住在加利福尼亞的美洲土著人比任何其他州的都要多。西班牙人 在18世紀的時候，加利福尼亞是由西班牙統(tǒng)治的西班牙士兵最早是在1 6世紀初期來到南美洲的，他們同土著人打仗，并奪去了他們的土地。兩個世紀以后，西班牙人在南美洲的大部分地區(qū)定居下來，而且還在我們現(xiàn)在稱之為美國的西北沿海地區(qū)住下來。在首批移居加州的西班牙人中，大部分是宗教人士，他們的職責是向原住民傳授天主教。1821年，墨西哥人從西班牙獲得了獨立加利福尼亞于是成了墨西哥的一部分。1846年美國向墨西哥宣戰(zhàn)，美國贏得戰(zhàn)爭勝利后，墨西哥被迫把加利福尼亞割讓給美國。但是，這個州至今仍然保留著很強的西班牙的影響。這就是為什么今天還有40%的加利福尼亞人仍然把西班牙語作為第一或第二語言的緣故。俄羅斯人 19世紀初期，一批最初到阿拉斯加的俄羅斯獵人開始在加利福尼亞定居下來。今天，住在圣弗朗西斯科（舊金山）及其周邊地區(qū)的美籍俄羅斯人約有25,000人。淘金礦工 1848年，在美國同墨西哥開戰(zhàn)之后不久，在加利福尼亞發(fā)現(xiàn)了金礦。發(fā)財夢很快就吸引了世界各地的人。距離最近因而來得最早的是南美洲人和美國人。隨后跟著來的有歐洲和亞洲的探險家。事實上很少有人圓了發(fā)財夢。一些人死了或回家了，但是盡管條件十分艱苦，多數(shù)人還是留在了加利福尼亞勞作謀生，并在新的城鎮(zhèn)或農(nóng)場里定居下來。到1850年加利福尼亞成為美國第31個州的時候，它已經(jīng)是一個有著多種文化的社會了。后來的移民 雖然中國移民在淘金熱時期就開始到來了，但是更大批量的移民卻是在1 9世紀60年代為了修建貫穿美國東西海岸的鐵路而來的。今天，加利福尼亞州各地都有美籍華人，盡管有很大比例的華人還是選擇住在洛杉磯和圣弗朗西斯科（舊金山）的“中國城”里。 19世紀后期，其他國家的移民，比如意大利人來到了加利福尼亞，他們主要是漁民，也有制酒工人。1911年，丹麥的移民建立了自己的城鎮(zhèn)，至今仍然保留著丹麥文化。 20世紀20年代，電影業(yè)在加州的好萊塢建立了起來。這個行業(yè)吸引了大量的歐洲人，包括許多猶太人。今天，加利福尼亞的猶太人口在美國占第二位。日本農(nóng)民是在20世紀初期開