【導(dǎo)讀】美洲獅是一種體形似貓的大動(dòng)物，產(chǎn)于美洲。當(dāng)倫敦動(dòng)物園接到報(bào)告說(shuō)，在倫敦以南45英里處發(fā)現(xiàn)一只美洲獅時(shí)，這。些報(bào)告并沒(méi)有受到重視?？墒?，隨著證據(jù)越來(lái)越多，動(dòng)物園的專家們感到有必要進(jìn)行一番調(diào)查，因?yàn)榉彩锹暦Q見(jiàn)到過(guò)美。洲獅的人們所描述的情況竟是出奇地相似。搜尋美洲獅的工作是從一座小村莊開(kāi)始的。看見(jiàn)它，它就立刻逃走了。專家證實(shí)，美洲獅非被逼得走投無(wú)路，是決不會(huì)傷人的。事實(shí)上搜尋工作很困難，因?yàn)槌３?。是早晨在甲地發(fā)現(xiàn)那只美洲獅，晚上卻在20英里外的乙地發(fā)現(xiàn)它的蹤跡。死兔子之類的小動(dòng)物，在許多地方看見(jiàn)爪印，灌木叢中發(fā)現(xiàn)了粘在上面的美洲獅毛。聲”；一位商人去釣魚(yú)，看見(jiàn)那只美洲獅在樹(shù)上。專家們?nèi)缃褚呀?jīng)完全肯定那只動(dòng)物就是美洲獅，但它是從哪兒來(lái)的呢？由于全國(guó)動(dòng)物園沒(méi)有一家報(bào)告丟了美洲獅，因此那只美洲獅一定是某位私人收藏豢養(yǎng)的，不知怎么設(shè)法逃出來(lái)了。工作進(jìn)行了好幾個(gè)星期，但始終未能逮住那只美洲獅。

　　

【正文】 fore, she was impatient to try it on. Though the costume consisted only of a sheet, it was very effective. After putting it on, Mrs Richards went downstairs. She wanted to find out whether it would be fortable to wear. Just as Mrs Richards was entering the diningroom, there was a knock on the front door. She knew that it must be the baker. She had told him to e straight in if ever she failed to open the door and to leave the bread on the kitchen table. Not wanting to frighten the poor man, Mrs Richards quickly hid in the small storeroom under the stairs. She heard the front door open and heavy footsteps in the hall. Suddenly the door of the storeroom was opened and a man entered. Mrs Richards realized that it must be the man from the Electricity Board who had e to read the meter. She tried to explain the situation, saying39。 It39。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(lái)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?yàn)橥砩纤煞蛞黄饏⒓右粋€(gè)化裝舞會(huì)。她打算裝扮成鬼的模樣。頭天晚上她已把化裝服做好，這時(shí)她急于想試試。盡管化裝服僅由一個(gè)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(lái)是否舒服。 理查茲夫人剛剛走進(jìn)餐廳，前門就傳來(lái)敲門聲。她知道來(lái)了一定面包師。她曾告訴過(guò)面包師，如果她不去開(kāi)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(gè)可憐人，便趕緊躲到了樓梯下的小儲(chǔ)藏室里。她聽(tīng)見(jiàn)前門被打開(kāi)，走廊里響起重重的腳步聲。突然貯 藏門開(kāi)了，一個(gè)男人走了進(jìn)來(lái)。理查茲夫人這才想到一定是供電局來(lái)人查電表了。她說(shuō)了聲 “是我，別怕！ ”然后想進(jìn)行一番解釋，但已來(lái)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(jiàn)他 “砰 ”的一聲關(guān)上門逃走了。 Lesson14 A noble gangster There 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(gè)時(shí)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(shí) ,歹徒們就會(huì)很快搗毀他的商店 ,讓他破產(chǎn) .榨取 保護(hù)金 并不是一種現(xiàn)代的罪惡行徑 .早在 14 世紀(jì) ,英國(guó)人約翰 .霍克伍德就有過(guò)非凡的發(fā)現(xiàn) :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 ,約翰 .霍克伍德爵士帶著一隊(duì)士兵來(lái)到意大利 ,在佛羅倫薩附近駐扎下來(lái) ,很快就出了名 .意大利人叫他喬凡尼 .阿庫(kù)托 .每次意大利各城邦之間打伏 ,霍克伍德把他的士兵雇傭給愿給他出高價(jià)的君主。和平時(shí)期 ,當(dāng)生意蕭條時(shí) ,霍克伍德便帶領(lǐng)士兵進(jìn)入某個(gè)城邦 ,縱火燒毀 一兩個(gè)農(nóng)場(chǎng) ,然后提出 ,如向他們繳納保護(hù)金 ,他們便主動(dòng)撤離。霍克伍德用這種方法掙了大筆錢 .盡管如此 ,意大利人還是把他視作某種英雄。他 80歲那年死去時(shí) ,佛羅倫薩人為他舉行了國(guó)葬 ,并為他畫像以紀(jì)念這位 驍勇無(wú)比的戰(zhàn)士、杰出的領(lǐng)袖喬凡尼 .阿庫(kù)托先生 . Lesson15 Fifty pence worth of trouble Children 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, Gee, 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. Gee took off his 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 Gee was firmly stuck. The firebrigade was called and two firemen freed Gee using a special type of grease. Gee 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(lái)源。對(duì)于有些孩子來(lái)說(shuō)，少量的錢可以花很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間。如果 50 便士不拿來(lái)?yè)Q糖吃，則可以放在儲(chǔ)蓄罐里叮當(dāng)響上好幾月。但是能把儲(chǔ)蓄罐裝滿的只有屈指可數(shù)的幾個(gè)特別節(jié)儉的孩子。對(duì)大部分孩子來(lái)說(shuō)，用 50 便士來(lái)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(gè)儲(chǔ)蓄罐，但總是空空的。我給了不少 50 便士的硬幣，但沒(méi)有幾個(gè)存到儲(chǔ)蓄罐里。昨天，我給了他 50便士讓存起來(lái)，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(méi)找到那 50 便士硬幣，他的胳膊反倒退不出來(lái)了。這時(shí)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(lái)消防隊(duì)，兩位消防隊(duì)員使用了一種特殊的潤(rùn)滑劑才使喬治得以解脫。不過(guò)，此事并沒(méi)使喬治過(guò)于傷心，因?yàn)樘枪昀习迥锫?tīng)說(shuō)了他遇到的麻煩后，賞給他一大盒巧克力。 Lesson16 Mary had a little lamb Mary 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 w