There was a time when the owners of shops and businesses in Chicago had to pay large sums of money to gangsters(匪徒)in return for “protection”. If the money was not paid immediately, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop. Getting “protection money” is not a modern means. 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.
Then Sir John Hawkwood arrived in Italy with a group 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 those 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 if protection money was paid to them. Hawkwood made large sums of money with this method. In spite of this, the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero .When he died at eighty, the Florentines gave him a state funeral and had his picture painted, which was in memory of “this bravest man”.
小题1:What protection did Chicago gangsters give to those who paid them?
A．They saved those people’s businesses from destruction.
B．They left those people’s business unharmed much.
C．They sent soldiers to serve them no matter what help they needed willingly.
D．They didn’t take those people’s lives小题2:Sir John Hawkwook's Italian name “Giovanni Acuto” was one which .
A．he gave himself in order to become better known to the Italians
B．he earned through his sharp practice of selling his ‘protection’
C．he needed so as to hire his soldiers to Italians
D．was given him in telling his services to the others’小题3:The Italians regarded Hawkwood as a sort of hero .
A．because they couldn’t help admiring his bravery and boldness(胆大)
B．as he aided the citizens in peacetime when business was bad for them
C．he had played an important role in their daily life
D．for he lived so long and was given a state funeral by the Florentines小题4:From the passage, we can guess the gangsters were those .
A．who were of great importance to the poor
B．who made the businessmen do whatever they were in need of
C．who were always ready to be sent abroad
D．who did harm to others小题5:According to the writer, Hawkwood was .
A．a sort of national hero
B．an experienced leader
C．a brave soldier
D．a noble gangster
