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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 for' protection' If the money was not
paid promptly, the gangsters would
quickly put a man out of business by destroying
his shop. Obtaining 'protechon money'
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 city-states 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
city-state 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 'the most
valiant soldier and most notable
leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue'.
1.
How did
Hawkwood make money in times of peace
?
In times of
peace
在和平时期
2.
If the money
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
?
promptly
立即的，及时的（正式）
speedily
迅速的
swiftly
迅速的
directly
立刻的
simultaneous
[
?
sa
?
m
l
?
te
?
n
i
?
s]
同时的
simultaneous
interpretation
同声传译
?
pickpocket
扒手
burglar
入室盗窃犯
highwayman
车匪路霸
smuggle sth
走私
pirate sth
盗版
traffic drugs
贩毒
?
put sb out of business
使某人破产
sb go
bankruptcy [
?
b
??<
/p>
kr
?
ptsi]
破产
one
’
s business
collapse/land on rocks/goes to the dogs/fails
破产
3.
As
long
ago
as
the
fourteenth
century
,an
Englishman
made
the
remarkable
discovery
that
people would rather pay large sums of
money than have their life work destroyed by
gangsters.
早在十四世纪，
英国人就有过非凡的发
现：
人们情愿拿出大笔的钱也不愿毕生的心血毁
于歹徒之手。<
/p>
?
as
long ago as
表示强调，可译为“早在，追溯到”
as long as
译为“只要，长达
…
之久”
英语中同级比较短语<
/p>
as..as
均有此意
He earns 4000 a
month
→
He earns as much as
4000 a month.
他每月的工资多达
4000
元。
?
remarkable
adj.
异常的
< br>;
卓越的
;
显著的
;
非凡的
?
life work
毕生的事业
large sums
of
大量的
?
would rather
…
than
…
宁愿
…
而不是
…<
/p>
would rather
还可引导虚拟语气举行
与
would as soon
，
would prefer
，
would sooner
用法相同
，
结构为
would rather sb did/had
done.
表示
“希望”
或
“委婉的责备”
.
谓
语动词用过去时指当时或将来的情况，用过去完成时指过去的情况。
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