练习材料：

L14(2)：A noble gangster

Six hundred years 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 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 protection money was paid to them. Hawkwood made large sums of money in this way. In spite of this, the 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 picture painted with as dedicated to the memory of 'the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue.

sɪks ˈhʌndrəd jɪəz əˈgəʊ, sɜː Johan Hawkwood əˈraɪvd ɪn ˈɪtəli wɪð ə bænd ɒv ˈsəʊlʤəz ænd ˈsɛtld nɪə ˈflɒrəns. hiː suːn meɪd ə neɪm fɔː hɪmˈsɛlf ænd keɪm tuː biː nəʊn tuː ði ɪˈtæliənz æz ʤəʊˈvæni Acuto. wɛnˈɛvə ði ɪˈtæliən ˈsɪtɪsteɪts wɜːr æt wɔː wɪð iːʧ ˈʌðə, Hawkwood juːzd tuː ˈhaɪə hɪz ˈsəʊlʤəz tuː ˈprɪnsɪz huː wɜː ˈwɪlɪŋ tuː peɪ ðə haɪ praɪs hiː dɪˈmɑːndɪd. ɪn taɪmz ɒv piːs, wɛn ˈbɪznɪs wɒz bæd, Hawkwood ænd hɪz mɛn wʊd mɑːʧ ˈɪntuː ə ˈsɪtɪsteɪt ænd, ˈɑːftə ˈbɜːnɪŋ daʊn ə fjuː fɑːmz, wʊd ˈɒfə tuː gəʊ əˈweɪ prəˈtɛkʃən ˈmʌni wɒz peɪd tuː ðɛm. Hawkwood meɪd lɑːʤ sʌmz ɒv ˈmʌni ɪn ðɪs weɪ. ɪn spaɪt ɒv ðɪs, ði ɪˈtæliənz rɪˈgɑːdɪd hɪm æz ə sɔːt ɒv ˈhɪərəʊ. wɛn hiː daɪd æt ði eɪʤ ɒv ˈeɪti, ðə ˈflɒrəntaɪnz geɪv hɪm ə steɪt ˈfjuːnərəl ænd hæd ə ˈpɪkʧəd wɪð æz ˈdɛdɪkeɪtɪd tuː ðə ˈmɛməri ɒv ðə məʊst ˈvæliənt ˈsəʊlʤər ænd məʊst ˈnəʊtəbl ˈliːdə, ˈsaɪnə ʤəʊˈvæni Haukodue.

任务配置：

L0＋L4

知识笔记：

新词：settle 解决，安排，定居；city-state 城邦；hire 雇用；demand 需要；Florentine 弗洛伦萨的；funeral 葬礼；dedicated 投入的，献身的；valiant 勇敢的

词组：a band of 一伙，一帮；in time of 在…的时候；march into 长驱直入；

练习感悟：

第一眼看见这一天的朗读任务时，实在是觉得有点多……但是一句一句读下来发现还不是很难，起码比起这几天受w老师阅读课的折磨好多了哈哈哈哈。