新概念!!!!必背优秀文章36篇(精选注解版).docVIP

新概念三 Lesson 14 A noble gangster 贵族歹徒 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。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. 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 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