Passage 3
One day in 1848, a carpenter named Marshall, who worked in a sawmill on
the American River in California, made a surprising discovery. He noticed
something bright and yellow, bent down to pick it up and took it to his
friend, a Mr. Sutter. This was the beginning of the Californian Gold Rush.
Sutter was a Swiss who had come to America to try to make a lot of money.
The Governor of California had given him permission to make a home in the
Sacramento Valley and his determination and energy had had him rich. He
had built the mill together with Marshall in order to make use of the rich
natural materials of his land.

Sutter realized the importance of the discovery and decided to ask the
Governor for the right to the gold. So he sent a man named Bennet to San
Francisco to see the Governor. He warned Bennet not to tell anyone because
he was afraid that people would come before his right was recognized.
Bennet could not keep the secret but people did not believe him at first.
Then a newspaperman went to Sutter's mill to make a report. When he came
back he ran through the streets shouting, "Gold! Gold!" Within a month
almost the entire population had gone to look for the gold.

Then news spread across America to Europe and thousands of people joined
in the search. Those who went by ship had to sail round Cape Horn but some
preferred to go across America by land, and freight cars were used for
travelers. Even then there were some who were prepared to cross the
terrible desert of Death Valley.

The Gold Rush proved to be fatal to Sutter himself. For years he trued to
get rid of those new-comers so that his family might enjoy the wealth of
his land, but his business failed. The new-comers did a great deal of
harm, and even killed one of his sons, and at the end of his life he was a
poor man who often stopped people in the street to tell them that gold was
worse than anything else.

Questions 17 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.
17. Who was the first to find the gold in California?
18. Why did Sutter send Bennet to San Francisco?
19. How did people come to California?
20. Why did Sutter become poor?