California

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Faith
Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty. People have been following a dream to
California for more than one hundred fifty years. More than
thirty-five million people live there now, more than in any other
state. Today we tell about California and its people.

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VOICE ONE:

Over the years, many people have dreamed of going to California.
At first, the dream was to find gold. In eighteen forty-eight, a man
named James Marshall was working at a sawmill. It was on the
American River, about one hundred kilometers northeast of San
Francisco. He found a piece of bright metal where the river flowed
through the sawmill. It was gold.

People who rushed to California the following year, eighteen
forty-nine, became known as "forty-niners." A few found gold and
became rich. The people who stayed made homes for themselves. They
found work. Some started schools and religious centers. In eighteen
fifty California became a state.

VOICE TWO:

California became the dream of
many people in the cold, crowded cities of the East and Middle West.
Today, California is still a land of dreams. People want to live
there because of the warm weather and sunshine. There are beautiful
ocean beaches and mountains. There are jobs in the cities and on
farms.

But the weather and the forces of nature in California are
sometimes dangerous. For example, earlier this month there were many
days of heavy rain in normally dry southern California. Mudslides
that resulted killed at least ten people in the Pacific Coast town
of La Conchita.

VOICE ONE:

Earthquakes are always a possible threat in California. In
nineteen-oh-six an earthquake destroyed the city of San Francisco.
It killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people. More recently, a
powerful earthquake in nineteen ninety-four shook Southern
California. The quake killed about sixty people in the Los Angeles
area. It caused twenty thousand million dollars in damage to
buildings and roads. Scientists also say a huge and destructive
tsunami wave is possible from the Pacific Ocean.

Yet another problem is fire. Dry winds race across the desert
into Southern California in the fall. Any fire can suddenly become a
major wildfire.

In October of two thousand three, major wildfires burned across
areas of San Diego, Ventura and San Bernardino counties. More than
three thousand homes were destroyed. More than twenty people were
killed.

VOICE TWO:

But danger from nature does not seem to keep people from moving
to California or having children there. The estimated population
grew almost five percent between two thousand and two thousand
three. About half the population growth is from people who arrive
from other states and countries. About eleven million people of
Mexican ancestry live in California. Many others come from countries
in Asia. San Francisco, for example, has one of the largest Chinese
populations outside Asia.

Some newcomers dream of Hollywood. They come to find a job in the
movie capital of the world. But these young men and women are like
the early settlers who searched for gold. Only a few ever become
movie stars or successful writers, directors or producers.

VOICE ONE:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, a former
Hollywood actor and champion bodybuilder, is finishing his first
year as governor of California. He became the state's top official
in an unusual way. In October of two thousand three, citizens voted
to remove their governor, Gray Davis, a Democrat. To take his place,
they elected Mister Schwarzenegger, a Republican. Mister
Schwarzenegger was born in Austria. Many Californians call him
"Arnold."

Gray Davis had been elected for a second term. But Republicans
used a recall law passed almost one hundred years ago to call for a
vote to remove him. Many Californians were angry at Mister Davis
because he raised taxes.

VOICE TWO:

Many people were especially angry
at a big increase in the vehicle tax. Governor Schwarzenegger
cancelled that increase as his first official act. California
currently has an eight thousand million dollar deficit. The governor
is trying to avoid raising taxes. To do this, he is proposing budget
cuts. But observers say he will have to compromise with the
legislature to pass his legislation. Most legislators are members of
the Democratic Party.

VOICE ONE:

Earlier this month, two state officials led a public
demonstration. They were protesting against Governor Schwarzenegger
for not proposing enough money for schools. His proposal calls for
cutting two thousand million dollars in the education budget.

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VOICE TWO:

To educate its young people, California has more state colleges
and universities than any other state. The California State
University system has more than twenty colleges and universities.
The University of California, another system, has schools in nine
cities. California also has more than one hundred community
colleges. These offer two-year study programs to any student who
completes high school.

VOICE ONE:

Those governing California have a
big responsibility for land as well as people. California is
America's third largest state in land area. California is more than
one thousand kilometers long and four hundred kilometers wide. Mount
Whitney, in the Sequoia National Park, is the highest mountain in
the forty-eight connected states. It is more than four thousand four
hundred meters high.

California also has the lowest place in the United States. It is
in Death Valley National Park, in the eastern desert near the border
with Nevada. The place is called Badwater Basin. It is eighty-six
meters below sea level. In fact, it is the lowest place anywhere in
the Americas.

VOICE TWO:

The coastline of California begins at the border with Mexico. It
extends one thousand three hundred fifty kilometers north, to the
state of Oregon. The central and southern California coast has many
beautiful, sandy beaches. The big waves of the Pacific make these
areas great places to surf – to ride on the ocean waves on boards.

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VOICE ONE:

The first Europeans to see the California coast were explorers
from Spain and Portugal, almost five centuries ago. The peninsula
that extends into Mexico made them think it was an island. In
fifteen thirty-nine a member of one sailing party recorded the name
as "California." California was the name of an imaginary island in a
book, a romance novel that was popular in Spain.

Spain claimed the new land. Later it built religious settlements
to spread Christianity among the native people. Mexico won its
independence from Spain in the eighteen twenties. But Mexico lost
California in a war with the United States about twenty-five years
later. Then came the discovery of gold in California.

The state is rich in natural resources. It has wide areas of
farmland and large forests. And it has oil, natural gas and valuable
minerals.

VOICE TWO:

America's largest city is New York. The second largest city in
the nation is Los Angeles, with about four million people. San
Diego, on the border with Mexico, is the second largest city in
California. It has one million two hundred thousand people. San Jose
and San Francisco are the third and fourth largest cities. San Jose
is near the so-called Silicon Valley, home to many high- technology
companies.

Many famous Americans were born in California. Here are a few of
them: Movie maker George Lucas. Former President Richard Nixon. Poet
Robert Frost. Writers Jack London and John Steinbeck. Actors Robert
Redford and Leonardo DiCaprio. Tennis players Serena and Venus
Williams. And golfer Tiger Woods.

The state's beautiful trees and flowers, ocean and mountains,
make it very inviting to travelers. Last year, some of the people
who came to visit decided to make their homes there. More than a
century and a half has passed since the forty-niners dreamed of
gold. But people still dream of life in California.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Frank Beardsley and Jerilyn Watson.
It was produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for another THIS IS
AMERICA in VOA Special English.