Some found areas of mountain rock thick with gold. These men got rich. But such areas were few and quickly claimed by the first men to find them. Others searched for gold in the rivers coming down the mountains. They were after pieces of gold that the rains had washed down from above .

　　The only way to find this gold was by panning. First a gold miner put dirt in a metal pan and added water. Then he shook the pan so that the water would wash the dirt. Slowly, he poured the water out of the pan. If he was a lucky miner, pieces of gold would remain.

　　Across the nation, newspapers carried stories of the gold being found. Each one hoped that the place he claimed panned out well --- had some gold.

　　For many, gold mining did not pan out. For a few, it panned out well. But in time, huge machines were built that could wash many tons of dirt at a time. Panning died out.

　　The word, however, remained in the language. Today, Americans still say, “ It panned out well ,” when something they have done pleases them. A business, a discovery, a simple event pans out well if it is successful. Unhappily, sometimes things do not pan out.

　　In recent years, the word pan has taken on another meaning. Today, it also means to criticize. How it got this meaning is hard to discover. But the job of a critic is to sometimes pan the work of a writer, artist or singer.

　　33. Why did so many people flood to California in 1848?

【2017届四川省汉源县高考英语一轮复习阅读理解训练：9（含答案）】相关文章：

★ 湖南省汝城二中2014届高考英语一轮复习阅读训练 (65)

★ 【课堂新坐标】2017届高考英语（通用版）二轮复习书面表达专题训练：技法6 规避重复适当进行句式升级（含解析）

★ 四川省2016届高考英语一轮复习课时作业（33） Module 3 Interpersonal Relationships Friendship 外研版选修6

★ 浙江省湖州市2014高考英语阅读理解一轮（暑假）精炼（3）含答案

★ 2017届高考英语二轮复习大题冲关秘籍阅读理解七选五：创新押题（含解析）

★ （全国通用）2014届高考英语一轮单元复习 限时强化训练十二

★ 湖南省汝城二中2014届高考英语一轮复习阅读训练 (22)

★ 安徽省淮南市2014高考英语一轮单项选择及文章训练（5）及答案

★ （全国通用）2014届高考英语一轮单元复习 限时强化训练九

★ 安徽省淮南市2014高考英语一轮单项选择及文章训练（23）及答案