The Million Pound Note
When I was twenty-seven years old, I was a mining-broker's clerk in San Francisco, and an expert in all the details of stock traffic. I was alone in the world, and had nothing to depend upon but my wits and a clean reputation; but these were setting my feet in the road to eventual fortune, and I was content with the prospect.
My time was my own after the afternoon board, Saturdays, and I was accustomed to put it in on a little sail-boat on the bay. One day I ventured too far, and was carried out to sea. Just at nightfall, when hope was about gone, I was picked up by a small brig which was bound for London. It was a long and stormy voyage, and they made me work my passage without pay, as a common sailor. When I stepped ashore in London my clothes were ragged and shabby, and I had only a dollar in my pocket. This money fed and sheltered me twenty-four hours. During the next twenty-four I went without food and shelter.
About ten o'clock on the following morning, seedy and hungry, I was dragging myself along Portland Place, when a child that was passing, towed by a nurse-maid, tossed a luscious big pear—minus one bite—into the gutter. I stopped, of course, and fastened my desiring eye on that muddy treasure. My mouth watered for it, my stomach craved it, my whole being begged for it. But every time I made a move to get it some passing eye detected my purpose, and of course I straightened up then, and looked indifferent, and pretended that I hadn't been thinking about the pear at all. This same thing kept happening and happening, and I couldn't get the pear. I was just getting desperate enough to brave all the shame, and to seize it, when a window behind me was raised, and a gentleman spoke out of it, saying:
"Step in here, please."
I was admitted by a gorgeous flunkey, and shown into a sumptuous room where a couple of elderly gentlemen were sitting. They sent away the servant, and made me sit down. They had just finished their breakfast, and the sight of the remains of it almost overpowered me. I could hardly keep my wits together in the
presence of that food, but as I was not asked to sample it, I had to bear my trouble as best I could.
Now, something had been happening there a little before, which I did not know anything about until a good many days afterwards, but I will tell you about it now. Those two old brothers had been having a pretty hot argument a couple of days before, and had ended by agreeing to decide it by a bet, which is the English way of settling everything.
You will remember that the Bank of England once issued two notes of a million pounds each, to be used for a special purpose connected with some public transaction with a foreign country. For some reason or other only one of these had been used and canceled; the other still lay in the vaults of the Bank. Well, the brothers, chatting along, happened to get to wondering what might be the fate of a perfectly honest and intelligent stranger who should be turned adrift in London without a friend, and with no money but that million-pound bank-note, and no way to account for his being in possession of it. Brother A said he would starve to death; Brother B said he wouldn't. Brother A said he couldn't offer it at a bank or anywhere else, because he would be arrested on the spot. So they went on disputing till Brother B said he would bet twenty thousand pounds that the man would live thirty days, anyway, on that million, and keep out of jail, too. Brother A took him up. Brother B went down to the Bank and bought that note. Just like an Englishman, you see; pluck to the backbone. Then he dictated a letter, which one of his clerks wrote out in a beautiful round hand, and then the two brothers sat at the window a whole day watching for the right man to give it to.
I would have picked up the pear now and eaten it before all the world, but it was gone; so I had lost that by this unlucky business, and the thought of it did not soften my feeling towards those men. As soon as I was out of sight of that house I opened my envelope, and saw that it contained money! My opinion of those people changed, I can tell you! I lost not a moment, but shoved note and money into my vest pocket, and broke for the nearest cheap eating house. Well, how I did eat! When at last I couldn't hold any more, I took out my money and unfolded it, took one glimpse
and nearly fainted. Five millions of dollars! Why, it made my head swim.
I must have sat there stunned and blinking at the note as much as a minute before I came rightly to myself again. The first thing I noticed, then, was the landlord. His eye was on the note, and he was petrified. He was worshiping, with all his body and soul, but he looked as if he couldn't stir hand or foot. I took my cue in a moment, and did the only rational thing there was to do. I reached the note towards him, and said, carelessly:
"Give me the change, please."
Then he was restored to his normal condition, and made a thousand apologies for not being able to break the bill, and I couldn't get him to touch it. He wanted to look at it, and keep on looking at it; he couldn't seem to get enough of it to quench the thirst of his eye, but he shrank from touching it as if it had been something too sacred for poor common clay to handle. I said:
"I am sorry if it is an inconvenience, but I must insist. Please change it; I haven't anything else."
But he said that wasn't any matter; he was quite willing to let the trifle stand over till another time. I said I might not be in his neighborhood again for a good while; but he said it was of no consequence, he could wait, and, moreover, I could have anything I wanted, any time I chose, and let the account run as long as I pleased. He said he hoped he wasn't afraid to trust as rich a gentleman as I was, merely because I was of a merry disposition, and chose to play larks on the public in the matter of dress. By this time another customer was entering, and the landlord hinted to me to put the monster out of sight; then he bowed me all the way to the door, and I started straight for that house and those brothers, to correct the mistake which had been made before the police should hunt me up, and help me do it. I was pretty nervous; in fact, pretty badly frightened, though, of course, I was no way in fault; but I knew men well enough to know that when they find they've given a tramp a million-pound bill when they thought it was a one-pounder, they are in a frantic rage against him instead of quarreling with their own near-sightedness,
Unit 3 The Million Pound Bank Note 一、教材分析 1、单元背景分析 本单元的主要内容是根据马克·吐温的名著《百万英镑》改编而成的戏剧剧本中的几个片段。通过这个话题可以使学生对西方资本主义社会有一个全面的认识；对金钱与人际关系的讨论可以让学生对我们的社会和人生有一个更为理性、全面的认识和理解，能引导他们树立正确的人生观和金钱观。通过戏剧的听、读和表演，学习与服务行业有关的英语词汇和句型；学会选择恰当的英语句型和词汇来表达自己的观点和看法。尤其是通过戏剧表演增强口头表达技巧和英语实际运用能力。 2、教材内容分析 在本单元中，“Pre-reading（读前）”部分设计了两个问题，不仅能激发学生阅读的兴趣，而且通过对问题的讨论和比较，教师还能引导学生树立正确的价值观和人生观。“Reading（阅读）”部分是剧本中的第一幕第三场。这一场描述了两个年老而又富有的兄弟打赌，赌一个身无分文的人在获得一张百万英镑的钞票之后会有怎样的命运，结果他们选择了一个流浪到英国的美国人亨利·亚当斯，并把百万大钞借给了他。“Comprehending（理解）”部分共有六个练习，这些练习分别从不同的方面来引导和帮助学生理解“阅读”中的信息。 以上三部分均是以提高学生阅读能力为主，所以我将这三部分科学地整合成一节阅读课。从整单元来看，该课时承接上一课时“Warming up(热身)”部分的内容（在第一课时，学生通过大量的图片、相关练习以及电影片断的欣赏，对马克·吐温的生平、作品、以及《百万英镑》第一幕前两场已经有所了解），同时，它又是呈现本单元语法项目“宾语从句和表语从句”的感知材料，是完成本单元听、说、读、写技能的载体。 根据课文特点及新课标对高一年级学生英语学习能力的要求，我确定如下的教学目标： 3、教学目标 1）知识目标：让学生掌握本课的课标词汇。引导学生通过戏剧情节的发展，了解英语戏剧的特点和要素，如时间、地点、人物等。 2）能力目标：提高运用阅读策略预测课文和获取课文主要信息的能力；通过略读、细读等阅读策略以及讨论活动提高说和读的能力；培养学生发现问题，分析问题和解决问题的能力。 3）情感目标：培养学生对英语戏剧的浓厚兴趣；通过探讨金钱和人性的关系，树立正确的人生观和价值观。 4）学习策略：形成自主学习、合作学习和探究学习的意识。 其中，知识目标和能力目标既是重点又是难点，情感目标和学习策略则贯彻整个教学过程。 二、说教法 在本节课的教学中，为了能很好地突出重点，突破难点，圆满完成教学任务，取得良好的教学效果，我根据《高中英语新课程标准》的要求，抓住重点，联系实际，采用快速阅读、角色扮演、小组讨论等教学方法，让学生充分体现课堂教学“主体者”的身份。同时，我还借鉴现代教学理念，把CAI（计算机辅助教学）技术与英语阅读教学的理论相结合，遵循阅读过程的认知规律，突出语篇教学，
百万英镑英文观后感 篇一：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 Henry. 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
必修三Unit3 THE MILLION POUND BANK NOTE百万英镑: Act I, Scene 4第一幕，第4场 (Outside a restaurant Henry looks at the envelope without opening it and decides to go in. He sits down at a table next to the front window.) （在餐馆外边，亨利看了看信封，没有打开，然后决定走进餐馆。他在靠近前边窗户的一张桌子旁坐了下来） OWNER:（看看亨利的那副穷酸相）That one's reserved. This way, please.Take your seat.（对服务员说）Take this gentleman's order, Horlas. 店主：那张桌子有人订了。请到这边来。霍勒斯，来给这位先生点菜。 HENRY: （坐定之后，把信放在桌上，右转头看钟，1点，左转头发现旁边有一个人在看他，服务员来了，拿着递过来的菜单说）I'd like some ham and eggs and a nice big steak. Make it extra thick. 亨利：我要火腿加鸡蛋，还来一块大牛排，要特厚的。 WAITER: I'm afraid it'll cost a large amount of money. 服务员：恐怕这得花费一大笔钱。 HENRY: I understand. And I'll have a large cool glass of beer. 亨利：我明白。我还要一大杯啤酒。 WAITER: OK. (The waiter leaves and soon returns with all the food.) 服务员：行。（服务员离开了，很快把所有的食物端了上来） HOSTESS: My goodness! Look at him.He eats like a wolf. 女老板：天哪！你看他，吃起东西来就像头狼。 OWNER: Well,we'll see if he's clever as a wolf. 店主：瞧着吧，看他是不是像狼一样机灵 HENRY:（刚吃完了所有的东西，右转头看钟，1点30）Ah, waiter. (waiter returns)Same thing again, please. 亨利：喂，服务员。（服务员过来了）同样的东西请再来一份。 WAITER: Again? Everything? 服务员：每样东西都再来一份吗？
百万英镑英文读后感 Austen left this problem for us to think. The genius of Jane Austen lies in this perfect simplicity, the simplicity that reflects big problems. Although Austen was only 21 when she wrote “Pride and Prejudice”, her sharp observation of social lives makes the style of this book surprisingly mature and lively. Mark Twain's short story of "one million pounds" is a very good work. The article on the "money is everything," "money is omnipotent," the idea of a satire, to expose the ugly face of capitalist society. See here, I am so envious of the "lucky" the heroine, but at the same time I would like to: people reason to curry favor with him, not just because when people value money too it? Worship of money is shameful and should not be reaping more! Money is not omnipotent, the world than money, there are many more important things … … Why it is always the woman who pays? Why they are always hurt? Why was Tess’s girlish purity lost? Why does the wrong man take the wrong woman? Why do the bad often ruin the good? Why is beauty damaged by ugliness? Women are too weak! Thousands of years of history have shown us that women have always been treated unfairly! When Tess fell in love with Angel, the she tried to hide her love because she thought she hadn' t had the right to get true love. But Angel, the man who loved her deeply, conquered her. However, when Tess told him her dismal past with great care, he couldn’t understand her and at last, he left her. So poor was Tess that when she wanted to be understood and forgave , she was pushed to abysm by the person she loved deeply .It was like adding more salt to the hurts of a broken heart. She was pious to everything about Angel. she could remember every sentence he said, and she learned to sing the songs he was fond of. Even when she was hurt by him, she didn’t hate him. When Angel was walking in sleep, she could choose to fall into the river to die with him but she didn’t do that because she knew she had no right to take his life. You can image how kind a girl she was. It's long long ago, maybe before I can read english books. I don't remember which movie edition I had seen. But I was impressed by the music, the scenery and the costume. I was very favor of a section of music in its balls. It's
[读后感]百万英镑英文读后感 百万英镑英文读后感 百万英镑英文读后感（一）： BasedonmarkTwain’snovel，’ThemillionairePoundNote’takesaninterestingsatiric，，howthericharequicktochangefacewheninaninstanttheyfindoutthatyou’reamanofwealthandhowwithi nthenextmo，’Themillionaire’’erclasssocietybuta tthesametimeitalsocreatesa ragsatsomepointbutthelovestor，asPeck’byroundingitupandpresentinghispoints. 百万英镑英文读后感（二）： 百万英镑英文读后感 ，，，iknewmoreabouthimafterIlearnedtheHistoryandAnthologyofAmericanLiterature，，，，itesmythough. SamuelLanghorneclemens（November30，1835–April21，1910）wasanAmericanhumorist，satirist，lecturerandwriter，，missouriandbroughtupinHannibal，’sdeathin1847，hewasapprenticedtoaprinterandwroteforhisbrother’iacity，，1863，’markTwain’ markTwainismostnotedforhisnovelsAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn，，clemensbecameafriendtopresidents，artists，，Iwouldintroduceittoyou. Isthererealfree-lunchintheworld?maybethereis!Andsuchkindof“freelunch”strikesthepoorandhonest youngmanHenryAdamswhohassurprisinglygotaone-millionbanknotefromthebrothers （Roderick&oliver）。Asamatteroffact，thebrothershadmadeabet，ifapoor，honestandcleverpeoplewhoeknockingonthedoorreceivedtheonemillionpounds，whatwillbehappeningtohislife?Theelderbrotherthinkthathewouldstarvetodeathbecausehecouldnotpr ovethatthemoneybelongstohim，willbearousingothers’suspicion，，，，，thelucky，peoplefromeverysocialclasstryevery ionandheissoonlivinginaluxurioushotelsuite，，，，， markTwain’sshortstoryof”onemillionpoundsnote”“moneyiseverything，”“moneyisomnipotent，”，?wheredoestheattractionofthebanknoteliein? Asfarasiamconcerned，theonemillionPoundsNotetakesaninteresting，s，，howthericharequicktochangefacewhentheyfindoutthatyou’reamanofwealthandhowwithinthenextm opperclasssocietybutatthesametimeitalsocreatesabyroundingitupandpresentinghispoints. Inmyheart，Herrywassoluckily，”lucky”oftheheroine，butatthesametimeIwouldliketothinkthatthereasonwhypeoplecarryfavorwithhimisjustthattheyattractt oomuchimportanttomoney，isn’tit?moneyworshipisshamefulandshouldnotbereapingmore!moneyisnotomnipotent，andintheworld，therearemanythingsthatmoreimportantthanmoney…… 百万英镑英文读后感（三）： markTwain’sshortstoryof”onemillionpounds”“moneyiseverything，”“moneyisomnipotent，”theid eaofasatire，toexposetheuglyfaceofcapitalistsociety. ”onemillionpounds”isaboutapoor，honestman，thatis，theheroineofthisstoryhasreceivedapairofbrothers，，gambling，ifapoor，honestpeoplewhoeknockingonthedoorreceivedtheonemillionpounds，hewillbewhatkindofresults?Brotherthathewouldstarvetodeathbecausehecouldnotprovethatthemone
The million pound bank note说课稿 时秀敏英语组 各位评委老师，我今天我说课的内容是现学教材必修三第三单元的第一篇阅读课文The Million Pound Bank Note，课型为阅读课。我从以下几个方面来说课 一、教学内容：本单元的主要内容是根据马克〃吐温短篇小说《百万英镑》改编的戏剧剧本。学生阅读部分是剧本中第一幕的第三场，这一场描述了故事的开端，富商兄弟俩打赌想把一张百万英镑钞票给一个一无所有但又诚实可靠的穷人，想看看一个月后此人会发生什么事。最后他们物色到一个穷困潦倒、流落伦敦街头的美国小伙子Henry Adams。 二、教学目标： 1.知识目标： 1) 掌握本课的12个生词和5个短语。2）了解戏剧这种文学形式的特点，特别注意学习了解戏剧的语言。 2.能力目标： 1) 能基本读懂经简写后适合中学程度的英语剧本； 2)理解作者是如何利用动作和语言表现人物的情感状态、身份地位以及性格特征3)用恰当的语音语调朗诵本篇课文。 3.情感目标：1）鼓励学生在共同完成一些交流、表演等任务的过程中，加强团体协作意识。2）树立正确的金钱观，特别是在与人交往过程中不应看重他人的金钱与地位。 三、教学重难点: 1、培养学生的阅读策略和技巧（比如速读、细读、精读等阅读微技能）； 2、引导学生通过人物语言探究人物心理，能够运用所学知识表达自己的观点。 四、教法设计以及学法设计 本节课多种教学方法并存，直观法、任务型教学法和情感激励教学法。主旨是在 读后 Step1导入部分：给学生讲述我的梦境，意外获得大笔的钱，可正当要花却梦中醒来，顺势导入话题:请学生来思考现实生活中，如果获得大笔钱财如何花? 设计意图：这一假设情景在剧本中成了现实，从而揭示本单元故事的序幕，为随后的戏剧冲突埋下伏笔，在激发学生兴趣的同时也反映了他们的人生观和价值观。 Step2: 读前部分：简单介绍剧本的语言特点，指导学生读中留意。 Step3: 读中部分：第一环节：Fast-reading 了解剧本大意，分别从时间、地点、人物、和发生什么来询问，凸显文章大意。 设计意图：感知舞台说明的重要性，理解人物关系。 第二环节：Careful-reading (寻读) 分三部分，由于这是学生高中阶段第一次接触剧本，且能力参差不齐，我特将课文按故事发展划定三部分，依次放录音，让学生感知故事的发展同时感受戏剧中地带的口语，并针对故事的发展来设置每部分的任务。第一部分（lines1-5）任务为，让学生通过理解文字来口头介绍主人公henry的基本情况。任务较容易，激发学生的参与度，同时感知很容易的心里活动。第二部分（6-21），任务一根据henry的回答来让学生整合语言介绍他的悲惨经历。任务二，找出两富兄弟的问题，目的让学生能感知，英国绅士的
Recently, I read <《million pounds》, almost laughing after reading, Mark Twin's writing is very humorous, the author outlines the different characters in the comic style "millions of pounds" in the face of various ugly, funny, ,like a caricature of world, vivid performance of the public.. 《million pounds》is written by American writer Mark Twin. The novel tells the story of a poor clerk the young Henry Adams in a London adventure. Two millionaire brothers bet in London, put a million dollars to deliver it to Henry, to see how he ended up in a month for a month. The time came, Henry did not starve or arrested, but became a millionaire, and win a beautiful girl. The article with a slightly exaggerated artistic reproduction of satire and humor in the novel master, revealed the mammonism thought of British society at the beginning of twentieth Century, is an important piece of work can not be ignored Mark Twin selected works is a short story, very classic. For example, the following parts of the book: He went to a restaurant for dinner, after the boss first very mean to him, when he was careful to say "please change it." the boss recovered and apologized again and again said that he couldn't break the bill, no matter how I said he did not answer. He wanted to look at it, and keep on looking at it a big ticket how to look
The Million Pound Note 百万英镑 Mark Twain （旁白） One day, two old brothers, chatting along, happened to get to wondering what might be the fate o f a perfectly honest and intelligent stranger who should be turned adrift in London without a friend, and with no money but that million-pound bank-note, and noway to acc ount for his being in possession of it. The brothers had been having a pretty hot argument a couple of days before, and had ended by agreeing to decide it by a bet, which is the English way of settling everything. Just then Henry came along. (henry：I was so hungry.) Brother A: Young man, come here, please. 年轻人 Brother B: Would you step inside a moment please? 请你进来一下 Henry: Call me, sir? 我吗？？ Brother B: Trough the front door. On your left. 走前门，你左手边 Henry: Thanks. 谢谢 servant：Good morning sir would you please come in? Permit me to lead the way. 早上好，请您进来。让我为您引路。 The young gentleman, sir. Brother A: Thanks James. Nothing with you. How do you. Mr.? James 没你的事了。你好。 Henry: Adams. Henry Adams 亚当斯 Brother B: How you sit down, Adams? 坐下吧。 Henry: Thank you. 谢谢 Brother A: You are an American Mr. Adams? 你是美国人？？ Henry: That ' s right. From New England. 是的 Brother A: How well do you know London 您了解伦敦吗？
百万英镑的英文简介 In 1903, American seaman Henry Adams (Gregory Peck) is stranded penniless in England and gets caught up in an unusual wager between two wealthy, eccentric b rothers, 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). T he reason for this is that Oliver believes that the mere existence of the note will e nable 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 th e shock of discovering how much the note is worth, he tries to return it to the brot hers, but is told that they have left for a month. He then finds a letter in the envel ope, explaining the wager and promising him a job if he can avoid spending the n ote for the month. At first, everything goes as Oliver had predicted. Adams is mist aken for an eccentric millionaire and has no trouble getting food, clothes and a hot el suite on credit, just by showing his note. The story of the note is reported in th e newspapers. Adams is welcomed into exclusive social circles, meeting the Americ an ambassador and English aristocracy. He becomes very friendly with Portia Lans downe (Jane Griffiths), the niece of the Duchess of Cromarty. Then, fellow America n Lloyd Hastings (Hartley Power) asks him to back a business venture. Hastings te lls Adams that he does not have to put up any money himself; the mere associati on will allow Hastings to raise the money he needs to start up a gold mine by sell ing shares. Trouble arises when the Duke of Frognal (A. E. Matthews), who had b een unceremoniously evicted from the suite Adams now occupies, hides the note a s a joke. When Adams is unable to produce the note, panic breaks out amongst t he shareholders and Adams' creditors. Fortunately, all is straightened out in the en d, and Adams is able to return the note to the Montpelier brothers at the end of t he month.
The Million Pound Bank Note Act 1,Scene3 Roderick: Young man, would you step inside a moment please ? Henry: Who? Me,sir? Roderick: Yes,you. 仆人：Good morning,sir. This way please. Oliver:Thank you,James Oliver: Come and sit down, Mr Adams Roderick: How well do you know London? Henry: Not at all, this is my first trip. Roderick: May I ask you a few questions? Henry:Not at all. Roderick: what are your doing in this country? Henry: I want to find a job, about a month ago, my boat sank. Roderick: What are your plans? Henry:In fact, I don’t have any plans. Roderick and Oliver: we see. Roderick: But how much money do you have? Henry: T o be honest, I have none. Oliver: What luck！Brother,what luck! Henry: It is lucky to you but not to me. Excuse me, I will go.
The Million Pound Note(故事简介) This time I want to talk about a very famous short story written by Mark Twain---------“The Million Pound Note”. Referring to（提到，提起）Mark Twain, you must feel familiar（熟悉的, because we must have read his works before. I still remember the article “The Bite Events on the Train”《火车上的噬人事件》in our textbook when I’m in the middle school. What touched me most at that time were his ironic（具有讽刺意味的）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 Henry. When he was wandering （徘徊）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（毫无价值）to the poor man because he could not prove that the money was his own while the other considered just as the opposite. Dramatically（戏剧性地）, the plot（剧情）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（谄媚地; 逢迎地）told Henry 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（拉拢，奉承）him, from free food，free clothes to free accommodation（住宿）. At the same time, his social status（地位）was becoming higher and higher and finally higher than most dukes（公爵）. Apart from that, he later got a beautiful wife and 200,000 pounds of bank interest(利息）. I can imagine a bright future was waiting for him. . 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(崇拜，爱慕) money too much. I begin to regret not reading it earlier.