【正文】 9。s only me39。, but it was too late. The man let out a cry and jumped back several paces. When Mrs Richards walked towards him, he fled, slamming the door behind him.理查茲夫人等丈夫上班走后，把孩子送去上學(xué)，然后來到樓上自己的臥室。那天上午，她興奮得什么家務(wù)活都不想做，因為晚上她要同丈夫一起參加一個化裝舞會。她打算裝扮成鬼的模樣。頭天晚上她已把化裝服做好，這時她急于想試試。盡管化裝服僅由一個被單制成，卻十分逼真。理查茲夫人穿上化裝服后下了樓，想看穿起來是否舒服。 理查茲夫人剛剛走進(jìn)餐廳，前門就傳來敲門聲。她知道來了一定面包師。她曾告訴過面包師，如果她不去開門，他可直接進(jìn)門，把面包放在廚房的桌上。理查茲夫人不想嚇唬這個可憐人，便趕緊躲到了樓梯下的小儲藏室里。她聽見前門被打開，走廊里響起重重的腳步聲。突然貯藏門開了，一個男人走了進(jìn)來。理查茲夫人這才想到一定是供電局來人查電表了。她說了聲“是我，別怕！”然后想進(jìn)行一番解釋，但已來不及了。那人大叫了一聲，驚退了幾步。理查茲夫人朝他走去，只見他“砰”的一聲關(guān)上門逃走了。 Lesson14 A noble gangsterThere was a time when the owners of shop and businesses in Chicago had to pay large sums of money to gangsters in return for39。 protection39。 If the money was not paid promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop. Obtaining 39。protechon money39。 is not a modern crime. As long ago as the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood, made the remarkable discovery that people would rather pay large sums of money than have their life work destroyed by gangsters.Six hundred years ago, Sir John Hawkwood arrived in Italy with a band of soldiers and settled near Florence. He soon made a name for himself and came to be known to the Italians as Giovanni Acuto. Whenever the Italian citystates were at war with each other, Hawkwood used to hire his soldiers to princes who were willing to pay the high price he demanded. In times of peace, when business was bad, Hawkwood and his men would march into a citystate and, after burning down a few farms, would offer to go away if protection money was paid to them. Hawkwood made large sums of money in this way. In spite of this, the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero. When he died at the age of eighty, the Florentines gave him a state funeral and had a picture painted which was dedicated to the memory of 39。the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue39。. 曾經(jīng)有一個時期,芝加哥的店主和商行的老板們不得不拿出大筆的錢給歹徒以換取保護(hù)。如果交款不及時,歹徒們就會很快搗毀他的商店,保護(hù)金,:人們情愿拿出大筆的錢,也不愿畢生的心血?dú)в诖跬街? 600年前,在佛羅倫薩附近駐扎下來,霍克伍德把他的士兵雇傭給愿給他出高價的君主。和平時期,當(dāng)生意蕭條時,霍克伍德便帶領(lǐng)士兵進(jìn)入某個城邦,縱火燒毀一兩個農(nóng)場,然后提出,如向他們繳納保護(hù)金,他們便主動撤離。,意大利人還是把他視作某種英雄。他80歲那年死去時,佛羅倫薩人為他舉行了國葬,并為他畫像以紀(jì)念這位驍勇無比的戰(zhàn)士、. Lesson15 Fifty pence worth of troubleChildren always appreciate small gifts of money. Father, of course, provides a regular supply of pocketmoney, but uncles and aunts are always a source of extra ine. With some children, small sums go a long way. If sixpences are not exchanged for sweets, they rattle for months inside moneyboxes. Only very thrifty children manage to fill up a moneybox. For most of them, sixpence is a small price to pay for a satisfying bar of chocolate.My nephew, George, has a moneybox but it is always empty. Very few of the sixpences I have given him have found their way there. I gave him sixpence yesterday and advised him to save it. Instead, he bought himself sixpence worth of trouble. On his way to the sweet shop, he dropped his sixpence and it rolled along the pavement and then disappeared down a drain. George took offhis jacket, rolled up his sleeves and pushed his right arm through the drain cover. He could not find his sixpence anywhere, and what is more, he could not get his arm out. A crowd of people gathered round him and a lady rubbed his arm with soap and butter, but George was firmly stuck. The firebrigade was called and two firemen freed George using a special type of grease. George was not too upset by his experience because the lady who owns the sweet shop heard about his troubles and rewarded him with a large box of chocolates. 孩子們總是喜歡得到一些零花錢。爸爸媽媽當(dāng)然經(jīng)常給孩子零花錢，但是，叔舅嬸姨也是孩子們額外收入來源。對于有些孩子來說，少量的錢可以花很長一段時間。如果50便士不拿來換糖吃，則可以放在儲蓄罐里叮當(dāng)響上好幾月。但是能把儲蓄罐裝滿的只有屈指可數(shù)的幾個特別節(jié)儉的孩子。對大部分孩子來說，用50便士來買一大塊好的巧克力，是算不了什么的。 我的外甥喬治有一個儲蓄罐，但總是空空的。我給了不少50便士的硬幣，但沒有幾個存到儲蓄罐里。昨天，我給了他50便士讓存起來，卻拿這錢給自己買了50便士的麻煩。在他去糖果店的路上，50便士掉在地上，在人行道上跳了幾下，掉進(jìn)了陰溝里。喬治脫掉外套，卷起袖子，將右胳膊伸進(jìn)了陰溝蓋。但他摸了半天也沒找到那50便士硬幣，他的胳膊反倒退不出來了。這時在他周圍上了許多人，一位女士在喬治胳膊上抹了肥皂，黃油，但喬治的胳膊仍然卡得緊緊的。有人打電話叫來消防隊，兩位消防隊員使用了一種特殊的潤滑劑才使喬治得以解脫。不過，此事并沒使喬治過于傷心，因為糖果店老板娘聽說了他遇到的麻煩后，賞給他一大盒巧克力。 Lesson16 Mary had a little lambMary and her husband Dimitri lived in the tiny village of Perachora in southern Greece. One of Mary39。s prize possessions was a little white lamb which her husband had given her. She kept it tied to a tree in a field during the day and went to fetch it every evening. One evening, however, the lamb was missing. The rope had been cut, so it was obvious that the lamb had been stolen. When Dimitri came in from the fields, his wife told him what had happened. Dimitri at once set out to find the thief. He knew it would not prove difficult in such a small village. After telling several of his friends about the theft, Dimitri found out that his neighbour, Aleko, had suddenly acquired a new lamb. Dimitri immediately went to Aleko39。s house and angrily accused him of stealing the lamb. He told him he had better return it or he would call the police. Aleko denied taking it and led Dimitri into his backyard. It was true that he had just bought a lamb, he explained, but his lamb was black. Ashamed of having acted so rashly, Dimitri apologized to Aleko for having accused him. While they were talking it began to rain and Dimitri stayed in Aleko39。s house until the rain stopped. When he went outside half an hour later, he was astonished to find that the little black lamb was almost white. Its wool, which had been dyed black, had been washed clean by the rain ! 瑪麗與丈夫迪米特里住在希臘南部一個叫波拉考拉的小村莊里?，旣愖钫滟F的財產(chǎn)之一就是丈夫送給她的一只白色小羔羊。白天，瑪麗把羔羊拴在地里的一顆樹上，每天晚上把它牽回家?？墒?，一天晚上，那只小羔羊失蹤了。繩子被人割斷，很明顯小羔羊是被人偷走了。 迪米特里從地里回來，妻子把情況跟他一說，他馬上出去找偷羔羊的人。他知道在這樣一個小村莊里抓住小偷并不困難。把失竊的事告訴幾個朋友后，迪米特里發(fā)出他的鄰居阿列科家突然多了一只小羔羊。迪米特里立刻去了阿列科家，氣呼呼地指責(zé)他偷了羔羊，告訴他最好把羊交還，否則就去叫警察。阿列科不承認(rèn)，并把迪米特里領(lǐng)進(jìn)院子。不錯，他的確剛買了一只羔羊，阿列科解釋說，但他的羔羊是黑色的。迪米特里為自己的魯莽而感到不好意思，向阿列科道了歉，說是錯怪了他。就在他倆說話的時候，天下起了雨，迪米特里便呆在阿列科家里避雨，一直等到雨停為止。半小時后，當(dāng)他從屋里出來時，他驚奇地發(fā)現(xiàn)小黑羔羊全身幾乎都變成白色。原來羊毛上染的黑色被雨水沖掉了！ Lesson17 The longest suspension bridge in the worldVerrazano, an Italian abou