There was a time when the owners of shops and businesses in Chicago had to pay large sums of money to gangsters in return for \'protection.\'
曾经有一个时期,芝加哥的店主和商行的老板们不得不拿出大笔的钱给歹徒以换取\'保护\'。
If the money was not paid promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop.
如果交款不及时,歹徒们就会很快捣毁他的商店,让他破产.
Obtaining \'protection money\' is not a modern crime.
榨取\'保护金\'并不是一种现代的罪恶行径.
As long ago as the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood, made the remarkable discovery
早在14世纪,英国人约翰.霍克伍德就有过非凡的发现:
that people would rather pay large sums of money than have their life work destroyed by gangsters.
\'人们情愿拿出大笔的钱,也不愿毕生的心血毁于歹徒之手.
Six hundred years ago, Sir John Hawkwood arrived in Italy with a band of soldiers and settled near Florence.
600年前,约翰.霍克伍德爵士带着一队士兵来到意大利,在佛罗伦萨附近驻扎下来,
He soon made a name for himself and came to be known to the Italians as Giovanni Acuto.
很快就出了名.意大利人叫他乔凡尼.阿库托.
Whenever the Italian city-states were at war with each other,
每次意大利各城邦之间打伏,
Hawkwood used to hire his soldiers to princes who were willing to pay the high price he demanded.
霍克伍德把他的士兵雇佣给愿给他出高价的君主。
In times of peace, when business was bad, Hawkwood and his men would march into a city-state and,
和平时期,当生意萧条时,霍克伍德便带领士兵进入某个城邦,
after burning down a few farms, would offer to go away if protection money was paid to them.
纵火烧毁一两个农场,然后提出,如向他们缴纳保护金,他们便主动撤离。
Hawkwood made large sums of money in this way.
霍克伍德用这种方法挣了大笔钱.
In spite of this, the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero.
尽管如此,意大利人还是把他视作某种英雄。
When he died at the age of eighty, the Florentines gave him a state funeral
他80岁那年死去时,佛罗伦萨人为他举行了国葬,
and had a picture painted which was dedicated to the memory of \'the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue.\'
并为他画像以纪念这位\'骁勇无比的战士、杰出的领袖乔凡尼.阿库托先生.\'
gangster
n. 歹徒,强盗
Chicago
n. 芝加哥(美国城市)
protection
n. 保护
promptly
adv. 准时地
destroy
v. 毁掉;消灭
remarkable
adj. 不寻常的
hand
n. 帮,团伙
Florence
n. 佛罗伦萨(意大利城市)
city-state
n. (古代)城邦
hire
v. 租出,雇给
prince
n. 君主,诸候
Florentine
n. 佛罗伦萨人
funeral
n. 葬礼
dedicate
v. 奉献,题献给
memory
n. 纪念
valiant
adj. 英勇的
1 in return for…，作“作为……的报答”讲。
2 out of business, 倒闭，破产。
3 as long ago as, 作“追溯到”、“早在”讲。注意要与as long as分开，后面这个短语作“只要”或“长达……之久”讲。
4 people would rather pay large sums of money than have their life work destroyed by gangsters,
人们情愿支付一大笔钱，也不愿自己毕生的心血毁于歹徒之手。
Children always appreciate small gifts of money.
孩子们总是喜欢得到一些零花钱。
Mum or dad, of course, provide a regular supply of pocket money, but uncles and aunts are always a source of extra income.
爸爸妈妈当然经常给孩子零花钱，但是，叔舅婶姨也是孩子们额外收入来源。
With some children, small sums go a long way.
对于有些孩子来说，少量的钱可以花很长一段时间。
If fifty pence pieces are not exchanged for sweets, they rattle for months inside money boxes.
如果50便士不拿来换糖吃，则可以放在储蓄罐里叮当响上好几月。
Only very thrifty children manage to fill up a money box.
但是能把储蓄罐装满的只有屈指可数的几个特别节俭的孩子。
For most of them, fifty pence is a small price to pay for a nice big bar of chocolate.
对大部分孩子来说，用50便士来买一大块好的巧克力，是算不了什么的。
My nephew, George, has a money box but it is always empty.
我的外甥乔治有一个储蓄罐，但总是空空的。
Very few of the fifty pence pieces and pound coins I have given him have found their way there.
我给了不少50便士的硬币，但没有几个存到储蓄罐里。
I gave him fifty pence yesterday and advised him to save it.
昨天，我给了他50便士让存起来，
Instead he bought himself fifty pence worth of trouble.
却拿这钱给自己买了50便士的麻烦。
On his way to the sweet shop, he dropped his fifty pence and it bounced along the pavement and then disappeared down a drain.
在他去糖果店的路上，50便士掉在地上，在人行道上跳了几下，掉进了阴沟里。
George took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and pushed his right arm through the drain cover.
乔治脱掉外套，卷起袖子，将右胳膊伸进了阴沟盖。
He could not find his fifty pence piece anywhere, and what is more, he could not get his arm out.
但他摸了半天也没找到那50便士硬币，他的胳膊反倒退不出来了。
A crowd of people gathered round him and a lady rubbed his arm with soap and butter, but George was firmly stuck.
这时在他周围上了许多人，一位女士在乔治胳膊上抹了肥皂，黄油，但乔治的胳膊仍然卡得紧紧的。
The fire brigade was called and two fire fighters freed George using a special type of grease.
有人打电话叫来消防队，两位消防队员使用了一种特殊的润滑剂才使乔治得以解脱。
George was not too upset by his experience
不过，此事并没使乔治过于伤心，
because the lady who owns the sweet shop heard about his troubles and rewarded him with a large box of chocolates.
因为糖果店老板娘听说了他遇到的麻烦后，赏给他一大盒巧克力。
appreciate
v. 欣赏，感激
pocket money
零用钱
thrifty
adj. 节约的
nephew
n. 侄子，外甥
bounce
v. 弹起，跳起
pavement
n. 人行道
stick (stuck, stuck)
v. 卡住，夹住，不能再动
brigade
n. 旅，（消防）队
grease
n. 润滑油
1 with some children, 介词with此处作“对于”讲。
2 go a long way, 可以维持很久。
3 If fifty pence pieces are not exchanged for sweets, 如果50便士的分币没有用来换糖果的话。exchange…for…作“以……换……”讲，注意英语中的便士有两种复数形式pence和pennies, 但用法不同。如：a fifty pence是指1个50便士的硬币，而fifty pennies是指50个1便士的硬币。
4 have found their way there, 其中there是指储蓄罐。find one\'s way在这里作“进入”讲，即放到“储蓄罐”里。
Mary and her husband Dimitri lived in the tiny village of Perachora in southern Greece.
玛丽与丈夫迪米特里住在希腊南部一个叫波拉考拉的小村庄里。
One of Mary\'s prize possessions was a little white lamb which her husband had given her.
玛丽最珍贵的财产之一就是丈夫送给她的一只白色小羔羊。
She kept it tied to a tree in a field during the day and went to fetch it every evening.
白天，玛丽把羔羊拴在地里的一颗树上，每天晚上把它牵回家。
One evening, however, the lamb was missing.
可是，一天晚上，那只小羔羊失踪了。
The rope had been cut, so it was obvious that the lamb had been stolen.
绳子被人割断，很明显小羔羊是被人偷走了。
When Dimitri came in from the fields, his wife told him what had happened.
迪米特里从地里回来，妻子把情况跟他一说，
Dimitri at once set out to find the thief.
他马上出去找偷羔羊的人。
He knew it would not prove difficult in such a small village.
他知道在这样一个小村庄里抓住小偷并不困难。
After telling several of his friends about the theft, Dimitri found out that his neighbour, Aleko, had suddenly acquired a new lamb.
把失窃的事告诉几个朋友后，迪米特里发出他的邻居阿列科家突然多了一只小羔羊。
Dimitri immediately went to Aleko\'s house and angrily accused him of stealing the lamb.
迪米特里立刻去了阿列科家，气呼呼地指责他偷了羔羊，
He told him he had better return it or he would call the police.
告诉他最好把羊交还，否则就去叫警察。
Aleko denied taking it and led Dimitri into his backyard.
阿列科不承认，并把迪米特里领进院子。
It was true that he had just bought a lamb, he explained, but his lamb was black.
不错，他的确刚买了一只羔羊，阿列科解释说，但他的羔羊是黑色的。
Ashamed of having acted so rashly, Dimitri apologized to Aleko for having accused him.
迪米特里为自己的鲁莽而感到不好意思，向阿列科道了歉，说是错怪了他。
While they were talking it began to rain and Dimitri stayed in Aleko\'s house until the rain stopped.
就在他俩说话的时候，天下起了雨，迪米特里便呆在阿列科家里避雨，一直等到雨停为止。
When he went outside half an hour later, he was astonished to find that the little black lamb was almost white.
半小时后，当他从屋里出来时，他惊奇地发现小黑羔羊全身几乎都变成白色。
Its wool, which had been dyed black, had been washed clean by the rain!
原来羊毛上染的黑色被雨水冲掉了！
prize
adj. 珍贵的，宝贵的
tie
v. 拴，系
theft
n. 偷盗行为，偷盗案
accuse
v. 指控
deny
v. 否认
ashamed
adj. 感到羞耻，惭愧
apologize
v. 道歉
dye
v. 染
1 it would not prove difficult, 是不难做到的。
prove是连系动词，作“证明是”讲，本句子与it would not be difficult相同。
2 accuse sb. of (doing) sth. 作“指责、指控某人做某事”解。
3 he had better return it, 他最好把羔羊还给迪米特里。
had better用来表达一种建议，建议在将来某一具体场合采取的动作。这个短语比should和ought to的语气更强烈，常带有威胁、告诫或催促的意思。
4 denied taking it…,
deny后面可接动名词作宾语，也可接宾语从句。
5 apologize to sb. for (doing)sth. , 是“因（做）某事向某人道歉”的意思。
楼主
今天没有背，唉。。。又被楼主落下一课了！要加油了！
我尽量争取完成计划
