百万英镑英文简介

The Million Pound Note

This time I want to talk about a very famous short story written by Mark Twain---------“The Million Pound Note”. Referring to Mark Twain, you must feel familiar, because we must have read his works before. I still remember the article “ The Bite Events on the Train” in our textbook when I’m in the middle school. What touched me most at that time were his ironic words. Yes, he is a great humorist, novelist, writer and orator in America in nineteenth century. During his 40 years’ writing career, he created dozens of short or long stories.

This story tells about a poor but honest American Adam Hey. When he was wandering in the street of London, he was given by two billionaires a letter, in which he surprisedly found a ￡1,000,000 pound bank-note. Later he got to know that the two billionaires who were brothers had made a bet about the results after he got a one million-pound note at once. One of them thought the note wound count for nothing to the poor man because he could not prove that the money was his own while the other considered just as the opposite.

Dramatically, the plot went just out of my expectation. Herry went to a restaurant to have dinner first. The manager was mean to him at the beginning but his attitude changed quickly when Herry took out the note and asked for change. Faced with a millionaire, the manager apologized again and again and obsequiously told Herry that he didn’t need to pay for the bill right now. So Herry managed to have a free dinner. Then similarly, Herry went to a clothing shop and got a suit of clothes costing him nothing.

Like the plot above, people are curious of such a rich man and tried every means to cozy up to him, from free food， free clothes to free accommodation. At the same time, his social status was becoming higher and higher and finally higher than most dukes. Apart from that, he later got a beautiful wife and 200,000 pounds of bank interest. I can imagine a bright future was waiting for him.

The writing style of this story is so humorous. Mark Twain used hyperbole describing how our hero defeated snobbishness repeatedly. What I appreciate most is the detailed description of different people’s ridiculous actions before one million pounds, vivid, funny, ironic and humorous, which forms a Caricature.

In terms of the theme, it is apparent that the author wanted to denounce the overflowing mammonism in the society. Even now it gives us an impressive lesson. Yes, I cannot deny the importance of money to a person who wants to survive. We won’t live without money, with

which we get food, clothes, house and many other necessities. But we must know that there are many things which can’t be bought with money such as love or friendship. So in my opinion, money may be important to us, but not the most important. We need to build up the correct sense of money.

To sum up, this story is a really good work of Mark Twain. The lesson I’ve learnt from it makes me want to be an honest man sincerely and lets me not to worship money too much. I begin to regret not reading it earlier.

Studying aboard

Nowadays, there appears an undeniable fact that an increasing number of Chinese students choose to study aboard. This phenomenon has drawn considerable public attention.

Undoubtedly, there are a great many advantages of studying overseas. First and foremost, living and studying aboard offers students a different perspective of the world. By communicating with their counterparts from various counties and areas international students can get access to different ideas and values which will surely broaden their vision and eich their experience. In addition, it provides Chinese students a precious opportunity to get insights into different cultures and improve their second-language skills. What’s more, overseas experience is likely to bring more job opportunities to Chinese students when they are hunting jobs at home.

As far as I’m concerned, if possible, I will study aboard. In my view, despite its great expenses, studying aboard is rewarding.

In 1903, American seaman Hey Adams (Gregory Peck) is stranded penniless in England and gets caught up in an unusual wager between two wealthy, eccentric brothers, Oliver (Ronald Squire) and Roderick Montpelier (Wilfrid Hyde-White). They persuade the Bank of England to issue a one million pound banknote, which they present to Adams in an envelope (only telling him that it contains some money). The reason for this is that Oliver believes that the mere existence of the note will enable the possessor to obtain whatever he needs, while Roderick contends that it would actually have to be spent for it to be of any use. Once Adams gets over the shock of discovering how much the note is worth, he tries to return it to the brothers, but is told that they have left for a month. He then finds a letter in the envelope, explaining the wager and promising him a job if he can avoid spending the note for the month. At first, everything goes as Oliver had predicted. Adams is mistaken for an eccentric millionaire and has no trouble getting food, clothes and a hotel suite on credit, just by showing his note. The story of the note is reported in the newspapers. Adams is welcomed into exclusive social circles, meeting the American ambassador and English aristocracy. He becomes very friendly with Portia Lansdowne (Jane Griffiths), the niece of the Duchess of Cromarty. Then, fellow American Lloyd Hastings (Hartley Power) asks him to back a business venture. Hastings tells Adams that he does not have to put up any money himself; the mere association will allow Hastings to raise the money he needs to start up a gold mine by selling shares. Trouble arises when the Duke of Frognal (A. E. Matthews), who had been unceremoniously evicted from the suite Adams now occupies, hides the note as a joke. When Adams is unable to produce the note, panic breaks out amongst the shareholders and Adams' creditors. Fortunately, all is straightened out in the end, and Adams is able to return the note to the Montpelier brothers at the end of the month.