promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man ___ _____business by destroying his shop. _____(obtain) 'protection money' is not ___ modern crime. As long ago ____the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood, made the_________(remark) ________(discover) that people would _______ pay large sums of money than have their life work ________(destroy) by gangsters.

Six hundred years ago, Sir Johan Hawkwood arrived ____ Italy ____ a band of soldiers and settled near Florence. He soon made____ name for himself and came to ________(know) to the Italians ____ Giovanni Acuto. Whenever the Italian city-states were ___ 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, _______ business was bad, Hawkwood and his men would march into a city-state and, after _______(burn) down a few farms, would offer to go away protection money was paid to them. Hawkwood made large sums of money in this way. In ______ of this, the Italians regarded him_______ a sort of hero. When he died at the age of eighty, the Florentines gave him a state funeral and had a pictured with as dedicated to the memory of 'the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue.'

Lesson 15 Fifty pence worth of trouble 五十便士的麻烦

Children always appreciate small gifts of money. Mum or dad, of course, provide a regular supply of pocket money, ______ uncles and aunts are always ___ source of extra income. ___ 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 ____ a money box. For most of them, fifty pence is a small price to pay ______ a nice big bar of chocolate.

My nephew, George, has a money box ____ 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_________(save) it. __________ he bought himself fifty pence worth of trouble. _______ his way to the sweet shop, he dropped his fifty pence and it bounced along the pavement and ________ disappeared down a drain. George took ______ his jacket, rolled ___ his sleeves and pushed is right arm ________ the drain cover. He could not find his fifty pence piece anywhere, and what is more, he could not get his arm out. A crowd of people gathered round him and a lady _________(rub)his arm with soap and butter, ____ George was firmly stuck. The fire