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1、在职研究生报名网站http:/ 在职研究生报名网站http:/ 基础考研作文修炼：新概念必背36 Lesson 14 A noble gangster 贵族歹徒 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. If the money was not paid promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of
2、business by destroying his shop. Obtaining protection 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 yea
3、rs ago, Sir Johan 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
4、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, t
5、he 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 pictured painted which was dedicated to the memory of the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue. 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“
6、。 如果交款不及时,歹徒们就会很快捣毁他的商店,让他破产.榨取“保护金“并不是一种现代的 罪恶行径.早在14世纪,英国人约翰.霍克伍德就有过非凡的发现:“人们情愿拿出大笔的钱, 也不愿毕生的心血毁于歹徒之手.在职研究生报名网站http:/ 在职研究生报名网站http:/ 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发生战争,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
7、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 17 The longest suspension bridge in the world 世界上最长的吊桥 Verrazano, an Italian about whom little is known, sailed into New York Harbour in 1524 and named it Angouleme. He described it as a very agreeab
8、le situation located within two small hills in the midst of which flowed a great river. Though Verrazano is by no means considered to be a great explorer, his name will probably remain immortal, for on November 21st, 1964, the longest suspension bridge in the world was named after him. The Verrazano
9、 Bridge, which was designed by Othmar Ammann, joins Brooklyn to Staten Island. It has a span of 4,260 feet. The bridge is so long that the shape of the earth had to be taken into account by its designer. Two great towers support four huge cables. The towers are built on immense underwater platforms
10、made of steel and concrete. The platforms extend to a depth of over 100 feet under the sea. These alone took sixteen months to build. Above the surface of the water, the towers rise to a height of nearly 700 feet. They support the cables from which the bridge has been suspended. Each of the four cab
11、les contains 26,108 lengths of wire. It has been estimated that if the bridge were packed with cars, it would still only be carrying a third of its total capacity. However, size and strength are not the only important things about this bridge. Despite its immensity, it is both simple and elegant, fu
12、lfilling its designers dream to create an enormous object drawn as faintly as possible.在职研究生报名网站http:/ 在职研究生报名网站http:/ 1524年，一位鲜为人知的意大利人维拉萨诺驾船驶进纽约港，并将该港名为安古拉姆。他 对该港作了这样的描述：“地理位置十分适宜，位于两座小山的中间，一条大河从中间流 过”。虽然维拉萨诺绝对算不上一个伟大的探险家，但他的名字将流芳百世，因为1964 年11月21日建成的一座世界上最长的吊桥是以他的名字命名。 维拉萨诺大桥由奥斯马.阿曼设计，连结着布鲁克林与斯塔顿岛
13、，桥长4,260英尺。由于桥 身太长，设计者不得不考虑了地表的形状。两座巨塔支撑着4根粗大的钢缆。塔身建在巨 大的水下钢盘混凝土平台上。平台深入海底100英尺。仅这两座塔就花了16个月才建成。 塔身高出水面将近700英尺。高塔支撑着钢缆，而钢缆又悬吊着大桥，4根钢缆中的每根 由26，108股钢绳组成。据估计，若桥上摆满了汽车，也只不过是桥的总承载力的1/3。 然而，这座桥重要特点不仅是它的规模与强度。尽管此桥很大，但它的结构简单，造型优 美，实现了设计者企图创造一个“尽量用细线条勾画出一个庞然大物”的梦想。 Lesson 21 Daniel Mendoza 丹尼尔.门多萨 Boxing mat
14、ches were very popular in England two hundred years ago. In those days, boxers fought with bare fists for prize money. Because of this, they were known as prize-fighters. However, boxing was very crude, for there were no rules and a prize-fighter could be seriously injured or even killed during a ma
15、tch. One of the most colourful figures in boxing history was Daniel Mendoza, who was born in 1764. The use of gloves was not introduced until 1860, when the Marquis of Queensberry drew up the first set of rules. Though he was technically a prize-fighter, Mendoza did much to change crude prize-fighti
16、ng into a sport, for he brought science to the game. In his day, Mendoza enjoyed tremendous popularity. He was adored by rich and poor alike. Mendoza rose to fame swiftly after a boxing-match when he was only fourteen years old. This attracted the attention of Richard Humphries who was then the most eminent boxer in England. He o
