不愿毕生的心血毁于歹徒之手.
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,很快就出了名.意大利人叫他乔凡尼.阿库托.每次意大利各城邦之间打伏,霍克伍德把他的士兵雇佣给愿给他出高价的君主。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,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。霍克伍德用这种方法挣了大笔钱.尽管如此,意大利人还是把他视作某种英雄。他80岁那年死去时,佛罗伦萨人为他举行了国葬,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."
lesson 15
fifty pence worth of trouble
五十便士的麻烦
listen to the tape then answer the question below.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
did george get anything for his fifty pence? what?
children always appreciate small gifts of money. mum or dad, of course, provide a regular supply of pocket money, but uncles and ants are always a source of extra income. with some children, small sums go a long way. if fifty pence pieces are not exchanged for sweets, they rattle for months inside money boxes. only very thrifty children manage to fill up a money box. for most of them, fifty pence is a small price to pay for a nice big bar of chocolate.
my nephew, george, has a money box but it is always empty. very few of the fifty pence pieces and pound coins i have given him have found their way there. i gave him fifty pence yesterday and advised him to save it. instead he bought himself fifty pence worth of trouble. on his way to the sweet shop, he dropped his fifty pence and it bounced along the pavement and then disappeared down a drain. george took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and pushed is right arm through the drain cover. he could not find his fifty pence piece anywhere, and what is more, he could no 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 fire brigade was called and two fire fighter 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 large box of chocolates.
new words and expressions 生词和短语
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
参考译文
孩子们总是喜欢得到一些零花钱。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。对于有些孩子来说，少量的钱可以花很长一段时间。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。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。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。
我的外甥乔治有一个储蓄罐，但总是空空的。我给了不少50便士的硬币，但没有几个存到储蓄罐里。昨天，我给了他50便士让存起来，却拿这钱给自己买了50便士的麻烦。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。乔治脱掉外套，卷起袖子，将右胳膊伸进了阴沟盖。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。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。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。不过，此事并没使乔治过于伤心，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。
lesson 16
mary had a little lamb
玛丽有一头羔羊
listen to the tape then answer the question below.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
was dimitri right to apologize to his neighbour? why not?
mary and her husband dimitri lived in the tiny village of perachora in southern greece. one of mary'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 aleko'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 aleko's house until the rain stopped. when he went outside half an hour later, he was astonished to find the little black lamb was almost white. its wool, which had been dyed black, had been washed clean by the rain!
new words and expressions 生词和短语
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
参考译文
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。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。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。可是，一天晚上，那只小羔羊失踪了。绳子被人割断，很明显小羔羊是被人偷走了。
迪米特里从地里回来，妻子把情况跟他一说，他马上出去找偷羔羊的人。他知道在这样一个小村庄里抓住小偷并不困难。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。迪米特里立刻去了阿列科家，气呼呼地指责他偷了羔羊，告诉他最好把羊交还，否则就去叫警察。阿列科不承认，并把迪米特里领进院子。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。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。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。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。原来羊毛上染的黑色被雨水冲掉了！
lesson 17
the longes