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精选新概念必背优秀文章36篇沪江论坛风中劲草整理制作1新概念三Lesson14Anoblegangster贵族歹徒TThheerreewwaassaattiimmeewwhheenntheownersofshopsandbusinessesinChicagohadtopaylargesumsofmoneytogangstersiinnrreettuurrnnffoorr'protection.'Ifthemoneywasnotpaidpromptly,thegangsterswouldquicklyputamanoouuttooffbbuussiinneessssbydestroyinghisshop.Obtaining'protectionmoney'isnotamoderncrime.AAsslloonnggaaggooaassthefourteenthcentury,anEnglishman,SirJohnHawkwood,madetheremarkablediscoverythatpeoplewwoouullddrraatthheerrpaylargesumsofmoneythanhavetheirlifeworkdestroyedbygangsters.Sixhundredyearsago,SirJohanHawkwoodarrivedinItalywithabandofsoldiersandsettlednearFlorence.HesoonmmaaddeeaannaammeeffoorrhhiimmsseellffandccaammeettoobbeekknnoowwnnttootheItaliansasGiovanniAcuto.WhenevertheItaliancity-stateswereaattwwaarrwwiitthheachother,Hawkwoodusedtohirehissoldierstoprinceswhowerewillingtopaythehighpricehedemanded.IInnttiimmeessooffpeace,whenbusinesswasbad,Hawkwoodandhismenwouldmarchintoacity-stateand,afterbbuurrnniinnggddoowwnnafewfarms,wouldooffffeerrttoogoawayifprotectionmoneywaspaidtothem.Hawkwoodmmaaddeellaarrggeessuummssooffmmoonneeyyinthisway.IInnssppiitteeoofftthhiiss,theItaliansregardedhimasasortofhero.Whenhediedaatttthheeaaggeeooffeighty,theFlorentinesgavehimastatefuneralandhadapicturedpaintedwhichwasdedicatedttootthheemmeemmoorryyooff'themostvaliantsoldierandmostnotableleader,SignorGiovanniHaukodue.'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.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.Lesson17Thelongestsuspensionbridgeintheworld世界上最长的吊桥Verrazano,anItalianaboutwhomlittleisknown,sailedintoNewYorkHarbourin1524andnameditAngouleme.Hedescribeditas'averyagreeablesituationlocatedwithintwosmallhillsinthemidstofwhichflowedagreatriver.'ThoughVerrazanoisbbyynnoommeeaannssconsideredtobeagreatexplorer,hisnamewillprobablyremainimmortal,foronNovember21st,1964,thelongestsuspensionbridgeintheworldwasnnaammeeddaafftteerrhim.TheVerrazanoBridge,whichwasdesignedbyOthmarAmmann,joinsBrooklyntoStatenIsland.Ithasaspanof4,260feet.Thebridgeissolongthattheshapeoftheearthhadtobettaakkeenniinnttooaaccccoouunnttbyitsdesigner.Twogreattowerssupportfourhugecables.Thetowersarebuiltonimmenseunderwaterplatformsmmaaddeeooffsteelandconcrete.Theplatformseexxtteennddttooadepthofover100feetunderthesea.Thesealonetooksixteenmonthstobuild.Abovethesurfaceofthewater,thetowersrriisseettooaheightofnearly700feet.Theysupportthecablesfromwhichthebridgehasbeensuspended.EEaacchhooffthefourcablescontains26,108lengthsofwire.Ithasbeenestimatedthatifthebridgewereppaacckkeeddwwiitthhcars,itwouldstillonlybecarryingathirdofitstotalcapacity.However,sizeandstrengtharenottheonlyimportantthingsaboutthisbridge.Despiteitsimmensity,itisbothsimpleandelegant,fulfillingitsdesigner'sdreamtocreate'anenormousobjectdrawnasfaintlyas精选新概念必背优秀文章36篇沪江论坛风中劲草整理制作2possible'.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，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。Lesson21DanielMendoza丹尼尔.门多萨BoxingmatcheswereverypopularinEnglandtwohundredyearsago.Inthosedays,boxersffoouugghhttwwiitthhbarefistsforpprriizzeemmoonneeyy.Becauseofthis,theywerekknnoowwnnaass'prize-fighters'.However,boxingwasverycrude,fortherewerenorulesandaprize-fightercouldbeseriouslyinjuredorevenkilledduringamatch.OneofthemostcolourfulfiguresinboxinghistorywasDanielMendoza,whowasbornin1764.Theuseofgloveswasnotintroduceduntil1860,whentheMarquisofQueensberryddrreewwuuppthefirstsetofrules.Thoughhewastechnicallyaprize-fighter,Mendozadidmuchtochangecrudeprize-fightingintoasport,forhebroughtsciencetothegame.IInnhhiissddaayy,Mendozaeennjjooyyeeddttrreemmeennddoouussppooppuullaarriittyy.Hewasadoredbyrichandpooralike.Mendozarroosseettooffaammeeswiftlyafteraboxing-matchwhenhewasonlyfourteenyearsold.ThisattractedtheattentionofRichardHumphrieswhowasthenthemosteminentboxerinEngland.HeooffffeerreeddttootrainMendozaandhisyoungpupilwasquicktolearn.Infact,MendozasoonbecamesosuccessfulthatHumphriesttuurrnneeddaaggaaiinnsstthim.Thetwomenquarrelledbitterlyanditwasclearthattheargumentcouldonlybesettledbyafight.AmatchwasheldatStilton,wherebothmenfoughtforanhour.ThepublicbetagreatdealofmoneyonMendoza,buthewasdefeated.MendozametHumphriesiinntthheerriinnggonalateroccasionandhelostforasecondtime.Itwasnotuntilhisthirdmatchin1790thathefinallybeatHumphriesandbecameChampionofEngland.Meanwhile,hefoundedahighlysuccessfulAcademyandevenLordByronbecameoneofhispupils.Heeeaarrnneed