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Born in Earth
Gold formed deep in Earth billions of years ago. Scientists believe that volcanoes may have heated underground water, which melted the gold. Liquid gold then flowed with the water into cracks[裂缝] between rocks. The shiny yellow metal cooled and hardened. In some places, the new veins[矿脉] of gold reached close to Earth’s surface.
At the surface, the rushing water wore away[磨损] the rock below. Over time, a vein of gold showed through, revealing[使显露] the treasure. Tiny gold nuggets[矿块] broke loose and settled at the bottom of the stream. There they’d lie, waiting to be discovered. And discovered they were.
About 5,000 years ago, people found bits of beautiful gold in Egypt. It didn’t take long for them to catch gold fever. Since then, gold has been discovered at different times all around the world. With each discovery, the fever increases. And each time the fever rises, the love of gold drives people to do almost anything. Let’s look at some golden moments in history.
The Fever Spreads
Egypt, 3,000 B.C. The pharaohs of Egypt surrounded themselves with gold. They ruled from golden thrones[宝座] and gilded[镀金] their chariots[战车] with gold. They wore gold crowns and jewelry. They even buried mummies in golden masks.
The pharaohs’ hunger for gold grew and grew. Soon, small bits of easy-to-find gold were not enough. They dug mines to follow veins of gold, deeper and deeper into Earth.
Gold mining was dangerous work. Miners used fires to crack the rocks. The heat was fierce[猛烈的].
Poisonous fumes[（难闻的）烟, 气体] filled the air. The tunnels were so narrow that miners had to lie on their backs. Small rocks fell on them. Large rocks crushed[压碎] them. The pharaohs forced slaves to do this risky job. Often, the slaves were captured in war and brought from faraway places to work in the mines.
Egypt traded its gold for valuable items from other countries. Precious wood came from Lebanon. Horses came from Babylonia注1. Jewelry and other golden objects traveled along the Silk Road. It was a series of trade routes stretching from Egypt all the way to China. Gold was the one thing everyone wanted. That’s how gold and gold fever spread.
Gold Coins
Turkey, 560 B.C. King Croesus注2 ruled ancient Lydia注3, which is now western Turkey. He played an important part in spreading gold fever. He came up with a new idea: to mint[铸造（硬币）] coins made of pure gold.
The coins made buying and selling much easier. Gold was the perfect metal to use. It lasts a long time. It’s rare, so it’s worth a lot. And it’s soft, for a metal. People could mold[浇铸] gold into shapes. That’s just what Croesus did. He created coins that were the same size, weight, and value. The coins had a lion and a bull stamped on them.
Persia attacked Lydia. Croesus lost his kingdom. But his golden money idea spread across the world, bringing gold fever with it.
Gold in the Americas
South America, 1500s In the 1500s, word of an ancient ceremony[仪式] spread across Europe. The story was told like this: The Muisca king glittered[闪烁] as brightly as the sun. Fine gold dust covered his body. He stood on a raft, piles of sparkling gold at his feet. At the center of the lake, he dropped the gold into the water. Then he dove[跳入水中] in to wash the gold off his body. This would make the Muisca’s god happy.
Gold hunters asked: did the golden man have a golden city? The story grew. This city, they thought, had streets paved[铺] with gold. They called it El Dorado注4. Gold fever had struck again.
As a result, Spanish explorers raced to South America. They searched for El Dorado. No luck. But it wasn’t all bad news – at least for the explorers. They discovered many South American tribes[部族] had gold. They had golden jewelry and art. The explorers wanted that gold badly. They killed or captured many thousands of people just to get it.
California, 1848 In 1848, a man saw flecks[微粒，小片] of gold in a stream in California. “GOLD MINE FOUND!” screamed a newspaper headline. The tiny flecks changed the United States forever. Gold fever took over the country.
Tens of thousands of Americans dropped everything and headed west in search of fortune. They left their families. They moved rocks, dug in mud, and waded[涉水] in freezing streams. Some got hurt or sick. Others got lucky and found gold. The gold seekers kept coming, hoping they’d be next to strike it rich.
Gold’s Global Grip
Worldwide, 2009 Today, finding gold is harder than ever. In most mines, workers find specks[斑点]
of gold so small. Miners have to dig up 30 tons of rock just to find enough gold for one ring. Mining has left gashes[很深的裂缝] in Earth. The holes are so big, they can be seen from space! In 1990, gold was discovered in a volcano on an island in Indonesia. Now, the volcano has disappeared. Miners took it apart, rock by rock.
The work in a gold mine still can be deadly, just as it was for Egyptian slaves. Today, many miners use a dangerous liquid called mercury[水银] to separate gold from rock. The mercury can poison people and the environment. Even so, the desire for gold keeps growing. In 2007, people around the world bought 2,500 tons of gold jewelry!
Today, gold is in demand for more than its shimmering beauty. It’s used in computers, cell phones, and telescopes. Astronauts wearvisors[面盔] coated with a thin layer of gold. It protects them from the sun’s rays. Doctors are studying ways that gold might help them fight cancer.
The ancient Egyptians may never have dreamed of using gold in these ways. Many years separate the pharaohs from today’s miners, scientists, and artists. Yet one thing unites them all: gold fever.
生于地球
黄金在亿万年前便在地球深处形成。科学家相信，火山可能加热了地下水，这些水则使黄金熔化。液态黄金随着水流渗入岩石缝隙里，最终这种金灿灿的金属冷却变硬。在一些地方，新的金矿矿脉延伸到接近地表的地方。
在地表，流水不断冲刷侵蚀下面的岩层。久而久之，一条黄金矿脉显露出来，金光乍现。细小的金块渐渐松脱，最后栖息在河床上，静静地躺在那里，等待被人发现。那一天如期而至。
大约5000年前，人们在埃及发现了少量美丽的黄金，很快便传染上了黄金热。自此以后，不同时期的人们在世界各地发现了黄金，而每次发现又进一步激发了这种黄金热。每次热潮袭来之时，这种对黄金的热爱使人们几乎无所不为。让我们来看看历史上的几段黄金狂潮吧。
黄金热的扩散
公元前3000年，埃及 埃及法老周围缀满黄金。他们坐在黄金宝座上发号施令，给战车也镀上金；他们戴着黄金打造的王冠和珠宝，甚至在埋葬木乃伊时给它们戴上黄金面具。
法老对黄金的渴求日益增长。很快，易于找到的少量黄金再也不能满足他们。于是他们挖掘金矿，循着黄金矿脉一步步深入地球。
采掘黄金是一项相当危险的工作。矿工用火开凿岩石，热焰灼人，空气中充斥着有毒的气体。金矿的隧道很狭窄，矿工不得不平躺在隧道里工作。掉落的小石块砸到他们身上，大石块则会把他们压扁。法老强迫奴隶从事这种危险的工作。这些奴隶通常是战争中抓来的俘虏，从遥远的地方被带回来，在金矿里劳动。
埃及用黄金从其他国家换取贵重物品，比如黎巴嫩的珍贵木材和巴比伦尼亚的马匹。珠宝和其他黄金饰物经由丝绸之路向外传播。丝绸之路是埃及与中国之间的一系列贸易路线。黄金是当时每个人都渴望拥有的东西，黄金和黄金热由此传播开来。
金币
公元前560年，土耳其 统治着古代吕底亚国（即现在的土耳其西部）的克罗伊斯王在黄金热的传播过程中扮演了重要角色。他提出一个新想法：用纯黄金铸造钱币。
钱币让买卖更加方便，而黄金正是铸造钱币的绝佳金属。它历久常新，而且稀罕贵重，因此价值非凡；同时，作为金属而言，它很柔软，人们能把黄金铸造成各种形状。这正是克罗伊斯王的做法。他制造了一批大小、重量和价值完全一样的金币，上面印有一头狮子和一头公牛。
后来，波斯攻打吕底亚，克罗伊斯王失去了他的王国。然而，他那以黄金铸造钱币的想法则在世界各地传扬开去，黄金热也随之走遍世界。
美洲的黄金
公元16世纪，南美洲 16世纪，欧洲流传着一则关于一种古老仪式的传闻。故事是这样的：（在这种仪式里）穆伊斯卡国王全身涂满细腻的黄金粉末，闪闪发光，像太阳一样耀眼。他站在一张竹筏上，脚边堆满金灿灿的黄金。当竹筏到达湖心的时候，他便把黄金扔进水中，他自己随后也潜入水里，洗去身上的金粉。据说这样做能取悦穆伊斯卡的神灵。
淘金的人便想：难不成这个浑身涂满黄金的人拥有一座黄金城？于是，传闻越传越开。他们认为这座城市有黄金铺设的街道，并把它称为“埃尔多拉多”（黄金国）。黄金热再次兴起。
于是，西班牙探险者们争先恐后地来到南美洲，寻找传说中的“埃尔多拉多”。他们没有找到，但也并不只有坏消息——起码对探险者来说不是。他们发现许多南美部落拥有黄金，那里的人拥有黄金制造的珠宝和工艺品。探险者对黄金如饥似渴。为了得到黄金，他们杀害、俘虏了成千上万的当地人。
1848年，(美国)加利福尼亚 1848年，有人在加利福尼亚的一条河流里发现了黄金的碎屑。一家报纸用头条大声惊呼：“发现金矿了！”这些细碎的金屑从此改变了美国。黄金狂潮席卷了整个国家。
千千万万美国人背井离乡，向西部进发，寻找发财的机会。他们离别家人，翻开岩石，挖泥掘地，蹚过冰河。有些人受伤，有些人得病，还有一些人则幸运地找到了黄金。淘金者不断涌来，满心憧憬着自己就是下一个暴发户。
黄金的全球控制
2009，世界各地 时至今天，要找到黄金比以往困难多了。在大多数金矿里，矿工只能找到一点点黄金。矿工们要开凿30吨的岩石，才能挖到足够打造一枚戒指的黄金。而金矿的开采也给地球留下了深深的伤痕。这些开采金矿所留下的缺口大得从太空都能看见！1990年，有人在印度尼西亚一个岛屿的火山里发现了黄金。但现在这个火山已经消失了，因为矿工把它的岩石一块一块地拆开、搬走了。
如今的金矿开采作业仍然相当危险，就像古埃及时代的奴隶所面对的一样。今天，许多采矿者用一种危险的液体——水银来把黄金从岩石里提炼出来，而水银对人体和环境都具有毒性。即便如此，人类对黄金的欲望继续膨胀。2007年，全世界总共购买了2500吨黄金首饰！
今天，人们对黄金的需求已不仅止于其闪闪发亮的美丽外表，它还被应用于计算机、手机和望远镜等方面。宇航员的头罩上就涂有一层很薄的黄金，以保护其免受太阳射线的伤害。医生也正在研究黄金在抗癌方面的作用。
古埃及人可能永远不会想到黄金还有这些用途。虽然当年的法老和今天的采矿者、科学家和艺术家之间相距遥遥几千年，然而有一种东西始终把他们联系在一起，那就是——黄金狂潮。
注1：巴比伦尼亚是美索不达米亚的一个地区（今伊朗），是苏美尔人和阿卡德人居住之地。著名的古代城市巴比伦就位于此地。
注2：克罗伊斯，公元前6世纪吕底亚的末代国王, 以富有著称，其国家后被居鲁士率领的波斯军队攻占。人们用“as rich as Croesus”来形容非常富有。
注3：吕底亚是小亚细亚中西部一古国，濒临爱琴海，位于今天土耳其的西北部，以其富庶及其宏伟的首都萨第斯著称。
注4：埃尔多拉多，理想中的黄金国, 传说中的宝山。
Gold formed deep in Earth billions of years ago. Scientists believe that volcanoes may have heated underground water, which melted the gold. Liquid gold then flowed with the water into cracks[裂缝] between rocks. The shiny yellow metal cooled and hardened. In some places, the new veins[矿脉] of gold reached close to Earth’s surface.
At the surface, the rushing water wore away[磨损] the rock below. Over time, a vein of gold showed through, revealing[使显露] the treasure. Tiny gold nuggets[矿块] broke loose and settled at the bottom of the stream. There they’d lie, waiting to be discovered. And discovered they were.
About 5,000 years ago, people found bits of beautiful gold in Egypt. It didn’t take long for them to catch gold fever. Since then, gold has been discovered at different times all around the world. With each discovery, the fever increases. And each time the fever rises, the love of gold drives people to do almost anything. Let’s look at some golden moments in history.
The Fever Spreads
Egypt, 3,000 B.C. The pharaohs of Egypt surrounded themselves with gold. They ruled from golden thrones[宝座] and gilded[镀金] their chariots[战车] with gold. They wore gold crowns and jewelry. They even buried mummies in golden masks.
The pharaohs’ hunger for gold grew and grew. Soon, small bits of easy-to-find gold were not enough. They dug mines to follow veins of gold, deeper and deeper into Earth.
Gold mining was dangerous work. Miners used fires to crack the rocks. The heat was fierce[猛烈的].
Poisonous fumes[（难闻的）烟, 气体] filled the air. The tunnels were so narrow that miners had to lie on their backs. Small rocks fell on them. Large rocks crushed[压碎] them. The pharaohs forced slaves to do this risky job. Often, the slaves were captured in war and brought from faraway places to work in the mines.
Egypt traded its gold for valuable items from other countries. Precious wood came from Lebanon. Horses came from Babylonia注1. Jewelry and other golden objects traveled along the Silk Road. It was a series of trade routes stretching from Egypt all the way to China. Gold was the one thing everyone wanted. That’s how gold and gold fever spread.
Gold Coins
Turkey, 560 B.C. King Croesus注2 ruled ancient Lydia注3, which is now western Turkey. He played an important part in spreading gold fever. He came up with a new idea: to mint[铸造（硬币）] coins made of pure gold.
The coins made buying and selling much easier. Gold was the perfect metal to use. It lasts a long time. It’s rare, so it’s worth a lot. And it’s soft, for a metal. People could mold[浇铸] gold into shapes. That’s just what Croesus did. He created coins that were the same size, weight, and value. The coins had a lion and a bull stamped on them.
Persia attacked Lydia. Croesus lost his kingdom. But his golden money idea spread across the world, bringing gold fever with it.
Gold in the Americas
South America, 1500s In the 1500s, word of an ancient ceremony[仪式] spread across Europe. The story was told like this: The Muisca king glittered[闪烁] as brightly as the sun. Fine gold dust covered his body. He stood on a raft, piles of sparkling gold at his feet. At the center of the lake, he dropped the gold into the water. Then he dove[跳入水中] in to wash the gold off his body. This would make the Muisca’s god happy.
Gold hunters asked: did the golden man have a golden city? The story grew. This city, they thought, had streets paved[铺] with gold. They called it El Dorado注4. Gold fever had struck again.
As a result, Spanish explorers raced to South America. They searched for El Dorado. No luck. But it wasn’t all bad news – at least for the explorers. They discovered many South American tribes[部族] had gold. They had golden jewelry and art. The explorers wanted that gold badly. They killed or captured many thousands of people just to get it.
California, 1848 In 1848, a man saw flecks[微粒，小片] of gold in a stream in California. “GOLD MINE FOUND!” screamed a newspaper headline. The tiny flecks changed the United States forever. Gold fever took over the country.
Tens of thousands of Americans dropped everything and headed west in search of fortune. They left their families. They moved rocks, dug in mud, and waded[涉水] in freezing streams. Some got hurt or sick. Others got lucky and found gold. The gold seekers kept coming, hoping they’d be next to strike it rich.
Gold’s Global Grip
Worldwide, 2009 Today, finding gold is harder than ever. In most mines, workers find specks[斑点]
of gold so small. Miners have to dig up 30 tons of rock just to find enough gold for one ring. Mining has left gashes[很深的裂缝] in Earth. The holes are so big, they can be seen from space! In 1990, gold was discovered in a volcano on an island in Indonesia. Now, the volcano has disappeared. Miners took it apart, rock by rock.
The work in a gold mine still can be deadly, just as it was for Egyptian slaves. Today, many miners use a dangerous liquid called mercury[水银] to separate gold from rock. The mercury can poison people and the environment. Even so, the desire for gold keeps growing. In 2007, people around the world bought 2,500 tons of gold jewelry!
Today, gold is in demand for more than its shimmering beauty. It’s used in computers, cell phones, and telescopes. Astronauts wearvisors[面盔] coated with a thin layer of gold. It protects them from the sun’s rays. Doctors are studying ways that gold might help them fight cancer.
The ancient Egyptians may never have dreamed of using gold in these ways. Many years separate the pharaohs from today’s miners, scientists, and artists. Yet one thing unites them all: gold fever.
生于地球
黄金在亿万年前便在地球深处形成。科学家相信，火山可能加热了地下水，这些水则使黄金熔化。液态黄金随着水流渗入岩石缝隙里，最终这种金灿灿的金属冷却变硬。在一些地方，新的金矿矿脉延伸到接近地表的地方。
在地表，流水不断冲刷侵蚀下面的岩层。久而久之，一条黄金矿脉显露出来，金光乍现。细小的金块渐渐松脱，最后栖息在河床上，静静地躺在那里，等待被人发现。那一天如期而至。
大约5000年前，人们在埃及发现了少量美丽的黄金，很快便传染上了黄金热。自此以后，不同时期的人们在世界各地发现了黄金，而每次发现又进一步激发了这种黄金热。每次热潮袭来之时，这种对黄金的热爱使人们几乎无所不为。让我们来看看历史上的几段黄金狂潮吧。
黄金热的扩散
公元前3000年，埃及 埃及法老周围缀满黄金。他们坐在黄金宝座上发号施令，给战车也镀上金；他们戴着黄金打造的王冠和珠宝，甚至在埋葬木乃伊时给它们戴上黄金面具。
法老对黄金的渴求日益增长。很快，易于找到的少量黄金再也不能满足他们。于是他们挖掘金矿，循着黄金矿脉一步步深入地球。
采掘黄金是一项相当危险的工作。矿工用火开凿岩石，热焰灼人，空气中充斥着有毒的气体。金矿的隧道很狭窄，矿工不得不平躺在隧道里工作。掉落的小石块砸到他们身上，大石块则会把他们压扁。法老强迫奴隶从事这种危险的工作。这些奴隶通常是战争中抓来的俘虏，从遥远的地方被带回来，在金矿里劳动。
埃及用黄金从其他国家换取贵重物品，比如黎巴嫩的珍贵木材和巴比伦尼亚的马匹。珠宝和其他黄金饰物经由丝绸之路向外传播。丝绸之路是埃及与中国之间的一系列贸易路线。黄金是当时每个人都渴望拥有的东西，黄金和黄金热由此传播开来。
金币
公元前560年，土耳其 统治着古代吕底亚国（即现在的土耳其西部）的克罗伊斯王在黄金热的传播过程中扮演了重要角色。他提出一个新想法：用纯黄金铸造钱币。
钱币让买卖更加方便，而黄金正是铸造钱币的绝佳金属。它历久常新，而且稀罕贵重，因此价值非凡；同时，作为金属而言，它很柔软，人们能把黄金铸造成各种形状。这正是克罗伊斯王的做法。他制造了一批大小、重量和价值完全一样的金币，上面印有一头狮子和一头公牛。
后来，波斯攻打吕底亚，克罗伊斯王失去了他的王国。然而，他那以黄金铸造钱币的想法则在世界各地传扬开去，黄金热也随之走遍世界。
美洲的黄金
公元16世纪，南美洲 16世纪，欧洲流传着一则关于一种古老仪式的传闻。故事是这样的：（在这种仪式里）穆伊斯卡国王全身涂满细腻的黄金粉末，闪闪发光，像太阳一样耀眼。他站在一张竹筏上，脚边堆满金灿灿的黄金。当竹筏到达湖心的时候，他便把黄金扔进水中，他自己随后也潜入水里，洗去身上的金粉。据说这样做能取悦穆伊斯卡的神灵。
淘金的人便想：难不成这个浑身涂满黄金的人拥有一座黄金城？于是，传闻越传越开。他们认为这座城市有黄金铺设的街道，并把它称为“埃尔多拉多”（黄金国）。黄金热再次兴起。
于是，西班牙探险者们争先恐后地来到南美洲，寻找传说中的“埃尔多拉多”。他们没有找到，但也并不只有坏消息——起码对探险者来说不是。他们发现许多南美部落拥有黄金，那里的人拥有黄金制造的珠宝和工艺品。探险者对黄金如饥似渴。为了得到黄金，他们杀害、俘虏了成千上万的当地人。
1848年，(美国)加利福尼亚 1848年，有人在加利福尼亚的一条河流里发现了黄金的碎屑。一家报纸用头条大声惊呼：“发现金矿了！”这些细碎的金屑从此改变了美国。黄金狂潮席卷了整个国家。
千千万万美国人背井离乡，向西部进发，寻找发财的机会。他们离别家人，翻开岩石，挖泥掘地，蹚过冰河。有些人受伤，有些人得病，还有一些人则幸运地找到了黄金。淘金者不断涌来，满心憧憬着自己就是下一个暴发户。
黄金的全球控制
2009，世界各地 时至今天，要找到黄金比以往困难多了。在大多数金矿里，矿工只能找到一点点黄金。矿工们要开凿30吨的岩石，才能挖到足够打造一枚戒指的黄金。而金矿的开采也给地球留下了深深的伤痕。这些开采金矿所留下的缺口大得从太空都能看见！1990年，有人在印度尼西亚一个岛屿的火山里发现了黄金。但现在这个火山已经消失了，因为矿工把它的岩石一块一块地拆开、搬走了。
如今的金矿开采作业仍然相当危险，就像古埃及时代的奴隶所面对的一样。今天，许多采矿者用一种危险的液体——水银来把黄金从岩石里提炼出来，而水银对人体和环境都具有毒性。即便如此，人类对黄金的欲望继续膨胀。2007年，全世界总共购买了2500吨黄金首饰！
今天，人们对黄金的需求已不仅止于其闪闪发亮的美丽外表，它还被应用于计算机、手机和望远镜等方面。宇航员的头罩上就涂有一层很薄的黄金，以保护其免受太阳射线的伤害。医生也正在研究黄金在抗癌方面的作用。
古埃及人可能永远不会想到黄金还有这些用途。虽然当年的法老和今天的采矿者、科学家和艺术家之间相距遥遥几千年，然而有一种东西始终把他们联系在一起，那就是——黄金狂潮。
注1：巴比伦尼亚是美索不达米亚的一个地区（今伊朗），是苏美尔人和阿卡德人居住之地。著名的古代城市巴比伦就位于此地。
注2：克罗伊斯，公元前6世纪吕底亚的末代国王, 以富有著称，其国家后被居鲁士率领的波斯军队攻占。人们用“as rich as Croesus”来形容非常富有。
注3：吕底亚是小亚细亚中西部一古国，濒临爱琴海，位于今天土耳其的西北部，以其富庶及其宏伟的首都萨第斯著称。
注4：埃尔多拉多，理想中的黄金国, 传说中的宝山。