Задание №4578 ЕГЭ по Английскому языку

Alaska

The first Europeans to visit what is now called Alaska were Russian sailors led by Captain Bering. The 30                           was funded by Russian czar Peter the Great. In 1728 Bering and his crew 31                           through the strait that is now named after him, between the easternmost part of Asia and the westernmost part of the Americas. Their journey 32                          that Asia was not connected to North America; however, due to the heavy fog, they never actually saw the nearby land of North America. In 1741 Bering headed further south, landing on tiny Kayak Island off the 33                          of what is now the southeastern part of the state.

In the 1780s and 1790s Russians began small colonies, first on Kodiak Island and later on the mainland. In 1799 the Russian-American Company was established to 34                          Russian interests. For the next 68 years the company provided the only form of government for the European colonists, who never numbered more than a few hundred. The Russians ruled the 35                          until the late 1860s, when they sold it to the United States for $7.2 million dollars.

The 36                          of gold in 1896 in the Yukon Territory started a huge gold rush that brought thousands of settlers.