Its emphasises the writers message and keeps it constant, andstuck in the readers mind, so therefore the reader will want to read on due to the fact that they'd want to find out more about what is actually happening and it gets them hooked.
The answer is 5/8 because I divided both sides by 9
During the Alaskan Gold Rush thousands of mostly nameless<span> men sought their fortune in a harsh environment and lost</span>