[al:新概念英语（三）] [ar:MP3 同步字幕版（英音）] [ti:Five Pounds Too Dear] [by:更多学习内容，请到chazidian.com搜索“新概念”] [00:01.50]Lesson 28 [00:03.38]Five pounds too dear [00:12.49]Why was even five pounds 'too dear' ? [00:18.06]Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbour. [00:24.95]Before she had anchored, the men from the boats had climbed on board [00:29.55]and the decks were soon covered with colourful rugs from Persia, [00:33.52]silks from India, copper coffee pots, and beautiful handmade silverware. [00:40.17]It was difficult not to be tempted. [00:43.14]Many of the tourists on board had begun bargaining with the tradesmen, [00:47.47]but I decided not to buy anything until I had disembarked. [00:53.45]I had no sooner got off the ship [00:55.48]than I was assailed by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring. [01:00.86]I had no intention of buying one, [01:03.15]but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds. [01:08.80]Some of them were as big as marbles. [01:12.38]The man went to great lengths to prove that the diamonds were real. [01:17.11]As we were walking past a shop, he held a diamond firmly against the window [01:21.65]and made a deep impression in the glass. [01:24.83]It took me over half an hour to get rid of him. [01:29.04]The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches. [01:33.93]I examined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked genuine. [01:39.16]At the base of the gold cap, [01:41.33]the words 'made in the U.S.A.' had been neatly inscribed. [01:46.33]The man said that the pen was worth ￡50, but as a special favour, [01:51.35]he would let me have it for ￡30. [01:54.97]I shook my head and held up five fingers indicating that I was willing to pay ￡5. [02:02.87]Gesticulating wildly, the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous, [02:08.57]but he eventually reduced the price to 10 pounds. [02:12.55]Shrugging my shoulders I began to walk away when, [02:15.94]a moment later, he ran after me and thrust the pen into my hands. [02:21.44]Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair, [02:24.33]he readily accepted the ￡5 I gave him. [02:27.90]I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain--until I got back to the ship. [02:34.23]No matter how hard I tried, [02:36.47]it was impossible to fill this beautiful pen with ink [02:39.26]and to this day it has never written a single word!