【正文】 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 。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。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。喬治脫掉外套，卷起袖子，將右胳膊伸進了陰溝蓋。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。 我的外甥喬治有一個儲蓄罐，但總是空空的。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。對于有些孩子來說，少量的錢可以花很長一段時間。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、杰出的領(lǐng)袖喬凡尼 .阿庫托先生 . 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。和平時期 ,當(dāng)生意蕭條時 ,霍克伍德便帶領(lǐng)士兵進入某個城邦 ,縱火燒毀 一兩個農(nóng)場 ,然后提出 ,如向他們繳納保護金 ,他們便主動撤離。. 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 。 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。 If the money was not paid promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop. Obtaining 39。 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。那人大叫了一聲，驚退了幾步。理查茲夫人這才想到一定是供電局來人查電表了。她聽見前門被打開，走廊里響起重重的腳步聲。她曾告訴過面包師，如果她不去開門，他可直接進門，把面包放在廚房的桌上。 理查茲夫人剛剛走進餐廳，前門就傳來敲門聲。盡管化裝服僅由一個被單制成，卻十分逼真。她打算裝扮成鬼的模樣。, 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。 It39。 5天后，一條油輪從那兒路過，搭救了他們。由于他們隨身帶了一支捕魚槍，因此，吃飯不愁。島上幾乎沒有一顆樹，也沒有淡水，但這不算什么問題。途中，船開始下沉，他們迅速把食物、火柴、罐裝啤酒往一只救生筏上裝。 最近有兩個人在一座珊瑚島上呆了 5天，他們真希望在那兒再多呆一些日子。也許，這兩種都像都有可信之處。成熟的水果從樹上掉下來，人們根本無需勞動。我們有時想象荒島是陽光終日普照的天堂。ate like kings39。幾分鐘后，我終于被放行，手提劃著寶貴的粉筆記號的行李，匆匆離去。 海關(guān)官員擰開瓶蓋，把瓶子放到鼻子底下。 ”接著我臉帶微笑補充說： “這是一種我自己配制的奇特的混合物。 “香水，嗯？ ”他譏諷地說道， “你剛才應(yīng)該申報，香水要上進口稅的。突然，我看到官員臉上露出了得意的神色。所有細(xì)心包裝好的東西一會兒工夫 就亂成一團。 ”我回答說。 ”我自信地回答說。 “您有什么需要申報的嗎？ ”他直盯著我的眼睛問。甚至是最誠實的人也常弄得覺得有罪似的，而老練的職業(yè)走私犯卻使手提箱里藏著 500只金表，卻也處之泰然。 I said encouragingly. The Officer unscrewed the cap and put the bottle to his nostrils. He was greeted by an unpleasant smell which convinced him that I was telling the truth. A few minutes later, I was able to hurry away with precious chalkmarks on my baggage. 現(xiàn)在的海關(guān)官員往往相當(dāng)寬容。 As I expected, he did not believe me. 39。 It39。s hairoil.39。 I said.39。But it isn39。 Perfume is not exempt from import duty.39。 he asked sarcastically. 39。s face light up. He had spotted a tiny bottle at the bottom of my case and he pounced on it with delight. 39。Not at all,39。Would you mind unlocking this suitcase please ?39。No,39。Have you anything to declare?39。由于沒有足夠的救生艇運載所有乘客，結(jié)果， 1,500 人喪生。在下面，船長驚恐的地發(fā)現(xiàn) “泰坦尼克 ”號正在急速下沉， 16 個密封艙已有 5 個進水。突然，從船艙下部傳來一聲微顫音，船長走下船艙去查看究竟。警報響過不久，巨輪急轉(zhuǎn)彎， 以避免與冰山正面相撞。 “泰坦尼克 ”起航后的第 4天，它正行駛在北大西洋冰冷的海面上。然而，這艘巨輪首航就下沉，造成大批人員死亡。當(dāng)時，這艘輪船不僅是造船史上建造的最大的一艘船，而且也被認(rèn)為是不會沉沒的。船上載有 1,316名乘客與 891名船員。這樣就加大了空氣阻力，并減少了它們著地時沖擊力帶來的震動。在高速下落中，貓有時間放松自己。看起來，貓跌落的距離越長，它們就越不會傷害自己。有一只叫薩伯瑞的貓從 32 層樓上掉下來，但只摔斷一顆牙。所有這些貓有一個共同的經(jīng)歷：它們都曾從高層建筑上摔下來過，但只有其中的 8只貓死于震蕩或跌傷。貓在跌落時能夠大難不死是有事實作為依據(jù)的。最使我們感興趣的一件事情就是一種通俗的信念 ——貓有九條命。結(jié)果是人們已經(jīng)學(xué)會尊重貓的獨立性。但是，它們又有自己神秘的生活方式。 Lesson9 Flying cats 飛貓 Cats never fail to fascinate human beings. They can be friendly and affectionate towards humans, but they lead mysterious lives of thei