加州小档案：
人口：约3400万
面积：约411，013平方公里，排名第3位
州府：萨加缅度Sacramento
加利福尼亚州简称加州，它的名称取自西班牙传说中一个岛的名称。
1850年9月9日成为美国第31州。以金罂粟花Golden poppy为州花。本州别名叫做“昌盛之州”Golden State。本州箴言：“我已找到它啦”I Have Found It。州府是萨加缅度，在纵谷北部，萨克拉门多河下游。本州大都市为洛杉矶、旧金山、圣地亚哥、奥克兰、长堤及圣荷塞。本州大专院校有200多所。其中最著名的是加州大学、南加州大学及斯丹福大学Stanford University。加州大学创于1868年，地点在伯克来Berkeley，学生人数有10万多，设9个分校。南加州大学在洛杉矶，创于1880年。斯丹福大学在斯丹福Stanford（在旧金山之南），创于1891年。
本州特征有六：第一，它是美国都市人口百分比最高的一州。第二，美国人口最多之州。在50州内，列第1位。第三，作物产值方面，在50州中，列第1位。水果产量最丰富。葡萄、桃、李、杏、梅、柠檬、柿子、石榴及甜菜，产量为各州之冠。柑橘仅次于佛州。第四，养鸡之多，超过美国任何一州。此外，乳牛、肉牛产量亦多。第五，矿产丰富。硼、钨、石膏及石棉的产量，均超过任何一州。石油产量列第3位，仅次于德克萨斯及路易斯安二州，为本州主要富源。第六，自然方面有许多奇景。
本州南北长达1千公里，地势又多高低变化，气候南北不同，作物种类十分复杂。有冬小麦、棉、稻、蔬菜、水果。饲牧方面有鸡、火鸡、肉牛、乳牛、羊、猪。工业发展迅速。工业产品总值，仅次于纽约州，列第2位。饮食品工业最重要。其次为飞机制造及火箭等工业。本州渔业产值列第一位。主要鱼类是鲔鱼。
Introduction简介
全书共50册，分为美国各州的小知识，七彩缤纷的音符，优美好看的小散文，开心时分的短文，经典流传的寓言，超级高效的短句，实际有用的词汇等等在这些书中，备有单词解释，相关简介，或中文翻译，便于同学们更好的阅读和理解，真正进入文字的内涵当中，准确地和文字进行交流。本册主要介绍加州、科罗拉多州、肯塔基州和路易斯安那州的概况、州长、州鸟、州花、州旗、州歌以及相关资料，附有话里话外部分，主要介绍美国公园和美国科学家。
全书共50册，分为美国各州的小知识，七彩缤纷的音符，优美好看的小散文，开心时分的短文，经典流传的寓言，超级高效的短句，实际有用的词汇等等在这些书中，备有单词解释，相关简介，或中文翻译，便于同学们更好的阅读和理解，真正进入文字的内涵当中，准确地和文字进行交流。本册主要介绍加州、科罗拉多州、肯塔基州和路易斯安那州的概况、州长、州鸟、州花、州旗、州歌以及相关资料，附有话里话外部分，主要介绍美国公园和美国科学家。
California is unique．It has been shaped，in part，by its geography．California has four main regions．The temperate［（气候）温和的］coastal region，the Central Valley，once an inland sea（内海），the desert，and the mountain region．The imposing Sierra Nevadas caused California to develop in relative isolation from the rest of the nation．After Americans began to settle in California in large numbers during the nineteenth century，it would usually be weeks before news would arrive from the East．
Four flags have flown in earnest over California．Russia，Spain，Mexico，and the United States．
The first settlers to arrive in California after the Native Americans were Spanish，and later Mexican．Spaniard Hernando de Soto，in 1541，was among the early European explorers to visit the territory，but it was a Frenchman，Henri de Tont．Russia had some small settlements for the purpose of whaling and fur trapping in Northern California，but Russia didn’t attempt to colonize（拓殖，殖民）the area except in very isolated areas．Spanish priests were sent to California to covert the Indians to Christianity．Spain hoped to make the California native population into good Spaniards（西班牙人），loyal to Spain．Spain was becoming alarmed that the Russians and English were encroaching［（逐步或暗中）侵占，蚕食］on lands claimed by Spain．
The fight for California began almost 500years ago with Queen Elizabeth I．She sent Sir Francis Drake to harass and raid the Spanish galleons（大型帆船）．England was beginning to realize the value of California．England did not want Spain claiming more land in the new world，upsetting the balance of power between the super powers of the time．Tensions［紧张（状态）］were already high between Spain and England．Henry VIII，Elizabeth’s father，had divorced his first wife，Catherine of Aragon，a Spanish princess．In order to accomplish（达到，实现）the divorce，England severed ties with Catholicism and Henry had instituted protestantism as the State religion．Henry and Jane Seymore’s son had assumed the throne after Henry’s death and continued Henry’s policies．But when Edward the IV died at the age of 16，Mary I came to the throne．She was the daughter of Henry and his first wife，Catherine．Her ties to both Spain and Catholicism were strong．Elizabeth was suspected of plotting to overthrow（打倒）Mary and was imprisoned in the Tower．After “bloody Mary”died and Elizabeth I became monarch，the power struggle between catholics and protestants did not end．Eventually，Elizabeth had Mary，Queen of Scots，executed（处死）for treason（叛逆，背信，叛国罪）．Mary was her greatest threat to the throne since Mary claimed it as her right by way of England’s ties with the French throne．Even though Mary had abdicated（放弃）her rights，she still remained a threat to Elizabeth since Spain and France could use Mary as a cause to move against England．With the death of Mary Queen of Scots，England had secured protestantism and Elizabeth’s reign，but was short on allies．In order to build new European allies，England had to remain a power to be reckoned（估计，依赖）with．Spanish settlement along the west coast of North America could bolster（支持）Spanish power．This was the last thing England wanted．
California had come from obscurity（身份低微）to statehood because of the Gold Rush which started in earnest in 1849．Even though California was now part of the United States，coming to California was no small feat（壮举）．If settlers on wagon trains made it over the Rockies（洛矶山脉）safely，they were often stopped by the hostile（敌方的）Sierra Nevadas．Winter comes early and savagely and many settlers lost their lives like the Donner party．
The most common method of travel for those that could afford the passage was by ship．Settlers would leave the East Coast and have to travel South all the way around the tip of South America．Since it is so close to the South Pole at that point，ships would have to skirt（环绕）ice bergs（冰山）．The only short cut was through the Straits of Magellan［麦哲伦海峡（在南美洲大陆南端和火地岛等岛屿之间，沟通太平洋和大西洋）］near the tip of the South American continent．This was often perilous（危险的）since the straights were rocky and often stormy．The only other way to get to California was to get off the ship in Panama［巴拿马（位于中美洲的国家）］，cross the isthmus（［地理］地峡）by land，and pick up a ship on the West coast of Panama that was headed North．Many travelers died of disease crossing the tropical isthmus．
California had become part of the life of the United States in the middle of the nineteenth century—an exotic（异国情调的，奇异的）land of untold promise on the distant Pacific Coast．At the beginning of the twentieth century，California seemed less exotic，and the land’s promises seemed more limited．And these developments resulted from many factors other than the end of the rush for gold and easy mineral wealth．
