Unit 3 The Million Pound Bank-note
The Million Pound Bank-Note
The Million Pound Bank-Note
A penniless (poor) and lost young American in London becomes the subject of a bet between two rich and eccentric (古怪的) English gentlemen. They want to know how a poor man do and live with a million pound note. And a series of funny things happened.
The Million Pound Bank-Note:
short story :(original version:) by Mark Twain
play: (adapted from the short story)
film :Directed by Ronald Neame
If a rich person gives you a large amount of money to use as you like, for example, one million pound, what will you do?
Discussion
the bet
Have you ever made a bet with a friend? If so, what did you bet on? How did you feel about the bet after it was won or lost?
Characters in the play:
Henry Adams: An American businessman,
lost in London without
money, friends or a job.
Roderick and Oliver:
Two rich brothers, who made a bet. Roderick believed that a man couldn’t survive in the city for a month with only a million pound bank-note. But Oliver believed he could.
Main Characters
Characters in Scene 3:
Henry a lost American businessman in London
Roderick a rich Englishman, Oliver’s brother
Oliver a rich Englishman, Roderick’s brother
Servant to the brothers
Characters in Scene 4:
Portia Oliver’s daughter
Mr. Clemens a diner in the restaurant and expert on bank-notes
Some new words
incredible: difficult to believe
难以置信的
stare at: look at sb./sth. for a long
time 凝视
nightfall: the time in the evening when it becomes dark 傍晚
survive: continue to live or exist
生存; 存活
spot: see or notice a person or thing 发现
account for: to be the explanation or
cause of sth. 是....的原因
charity: 施舍
1. Who was Henry?
Fast Reading
An American businessman, who arrived in London by accident, penniless, hungry and lonely.
2. How did Henry Adams come to England?
3. Where did Henry work before? How much did he have?
It was the ship that brought him to England.
He worked for a mining company before and he had no money at all.
4. What did the two gentlemen give Henry?

5. When can Henry open the letter?

6. Why did they chose Henry?
They give him a letter.
He can’t open it until two o’clock.
Because Henry was honest, hard-working and poor.
Put the following events in correct order:

Henry wandered in London streets.
About a month ago, Henry Adams was sailing out of the bay.
The next morning he was spotted by a ship.
Towards nightfall he found himself carried out to sea by a strong wind.
On the ship he earned his passage by working as an unpaid hand.
Careful Reading
B
D
C
E
A
Why did the narrator say “you’re about to hear the most incredible tale”?
Because Henry Adams survived at sea.
Because Henry Adams earned his passage by working as an unpaid hand.
Because Roderick and Oliver invited Henry to step in and asked him questions.
Because Henry Adams, a tramp, was given some money for reasons unknown to him.
D
Now do the exercises in the textbook
comprehending
Answer key for Exercise 1:
1 F 2 F 3 O 4 O 5 O
Answer key for Exercise 2:
1 clever 2 confident 3 foolish 4 glad
5 jealous
Sum up the main idea of the whole passage
The story happened in _________ in ________. Henry, a tramp who came from ______________ landed in Britain ____________. He earned his _________ by working as an _________ hand. Wandering in London streets, he met _______________ who asked him to _____________ their house. After asking Henry many questions, they gave him _________.
London
1903
San Francisco
by accident
passage
unpaid
two old brothers
step inside
a letter
Please find out all the stage directions (the Italics斜体字), and guess their functions in the play.
Functions: 1) tone of voice
2) behaviour
Divide up the class so that each group of students looks at one character and then share the idea of each group.
What kinds of people are Henry Adams , Oliver and Roderick?
Find some adjectives(or other words) to describe them after reading.
The characteristics of Henry:
It is my first trip here.
Well, to be honest, I have none. (no money)
Well, I can’t say that I have any plans.
I don’t want your charity. I just want an honest job.
honest:
I earned my passage by working as an unpaid hand.
Could you offer me some kind of work here?
I don’t want your charity, I just want an honest job.
hard-working
pround
Well, it may seem luck to you but not to me. If this is your idea of some kind of joke, I don’t think it’s very funny. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll be on my way.
careless:
direct:
I landed in Britain by accident.
The characteristics of Oliver and Roderick:
servants and not worrying about giving a stranger a million pound bank-note
prepared to bet one million pounds just for a bit of fun
They see that Herry is honest and proud
rich
mischievous
good judges of character
Enjoy Scene 3.
Explanation
A large quantity of money= a large sum of money 常用于修饰不可数名词。
Now he has a large amount of money. He can do anything he wants with it.
只用于修饰可数名词的有:
dozens of
scores of
a great many
a big (large/great) number of
big (large/great) numbers of
2) 只用于修饰不可数名词的有:
much
a great (good) deal of
a great (good) amount of
3) 既可修饰可数名词,也可修饰
不可数名词的有:
a lot of
lots of
plenty of
a large quantity of
2. What will you do with it?
do with 对待；处理
What shall we do with the rubbish?
比较:do with/deal with
两个都有 “处理,对付”之意
do with中的do是及物动词; 而deal with中的deal是不及物动词,所以do with用what提问, deal with用how提问。
How are you going to deal with the waste paper?
What are you going to do with the old books?
3. make a bet
make a bet on sth. with sb.= bet on sth. with sb.
I bet …= I’m certain… 我肯定…
类似的短语：have a bet 打赌
win/lose a bet 打赌赢/输了
accept / take up a bet 同意打赌
4. Now ladies and gentlemen, you’re about to hear the most incredible tale.
女士们， 先生们， 你们将要听到一个最令人难以置信的故事。
be about to do 正要（即将）做某事
e.g. Just as I was about to leave the room, the telephone rang.
我正要离开房间， 电话铃响了。
辨析：be about to/ be to/ be going to
be about to do sth. 表示 “马上就要”，一般不和时间状语连用。
2)be to表示按计划或职责、义务要求必须做的事或即将发生的动作。
3)be going to打算将要做某事，也可表示很可能发生的事或自然现象。
I was about to jump when the guide stopped me.
When is the invention to be put into use?
I’m not going to tell you the truth.
5. He is lost in London. 他在伦敦迷了路。
be lost 迷路；倾心于某事
e.g. He was lost in the forest for three
days and nights and was finally rescued
by his friends. 他迷失在树林里三天三夜, 最后被朋友们救了出来。
e.g. He was so lost in reading this book
that he forgot the time of his train.
他看书入了神, 把上火车的时间都忘了。
6. Permit me to lead the way, sir.
先生, 请让我来带路吧。
permit someone to do 准许……做某事
e.g. Will you permit us to use this room for a meeting this afternoon? 你能准许我们今天下午在这个房间开个会吗？
permit doing 准许做某事
e.g. The rules of the club don’t permit smoking. 俱乐部的规矩是不允许吸烟。
与permit同义的词allow，也这样使用。
permit v./ n.
n./ pron.
~ + sb. to do sth.
doing
Dogs are not ~ted in the building.
We don’t ~ __________ (smoke) in the office.
I was ~ted _____________(explain) it.
You can’t enter the building without a ~.
smoking
to explain
词语辨析： permit allow let
permit 含有比较积极地同意某人做某事，多用于正式场合；allow 含有听任或默许某人做某事，它可以和副词连用，permit则不能；let多用于口语， 祈使句中应用let.如：
Will you permit me to say a few words?
Mary wouldn’t allow me in.
Let my try.
7. by accident= by chance
eg. I only found it by accident.
8. stare at
stare at angrily= glare at
词语辨析：stare, glare, gaze, glance
Stare指由于好奇，惊讶，深思而长时间目不转睛地“直视，注视，瞪视”， 有时表粗鲁无礼；glare指由于兴趣，惊奇而长时间无意识地“凝视、注视”；glance指“瞥视“”匆匆一看“。他们都可跟介词at.
9. Find oneself carried out to sea (发现某人自己被漂流到海上)
find oneself +介词短语/分词 (发现某人自己不知不觉…)
He found himself walking in the direction of the park. 。
After wandering around we found ourselves back at the hotel. 我们四处漫步后发现自己回到了酒店。
词语辨析 foolish, silly, stupid
foolish 意为“愚蠢的”强调人缺乏智慧，常识，判断力；行为举动愚蠢，考虑不周全。
silly 意为“傻的”，表人头脑简单，不懂世事，缺乏判断力；行为无聊。
stupid 意为“笨” 侧重人的智力差，反应迟钝。
10. I earned my passage by working as unpaid hand, which accounts for my appearance. 我靠做义工来顶替船费, 这
就是我为什么衣冠不整的原因了。
earn one’s passage 挣取旅费
e.g. He couldn’t afford the fare, and so
he had to earn his passage by doing jobs
on the ship. 他交不起船费, 只得靠在
船上做些零活来挣取路费。
11.account n. 帐目；帐户; 帐单
My salary is paid directly into my bank ~.
Can you really afford this ~ ?
The ~s show that business is improving.
account for ：
1 explain the cause of sth 解释/说明某事的原因
He could not ~ for his absence from school.
This might ~ for his laziness.
2 to make up an amount of sth 占…的比例
According to Holowka, buildings account for 65% of total US electricity use.
account for 对……做出解释；说明原因
e.g. Nobody could account for his absence from school.
没人能对他旷课做出解释。
account for: be the explanation of sth;
explain the cause fo sth.做某事的解释;
解释某事物的原因
His illness accounts for his absence.
他因病缺席.
Please account for your own conduct.
请你对自己的行为作出解释.
12.to be honest 老实说= to tell you the truth = honestly speaking
类似的说法： to be frank = frankly speaking 坦率地说
To be honest, I don’t think we have a chance of winning. 说实话， 我认为我们取胜的可能性不大。
Summary of the Million Pound Bank-Note
Henry, a San Francisco businessman is rescued at sea by a British ship that takes him to London where he finds himself without money, friends or the hope of finding a good job. Hungry
and alone, he walks the streets of the city when unexpectedly he is asked to a large and grand house. Two rich brothers, Roderick and Oliver, have made a secret bet, Roderick believes that a man cannot survive in the city for a month with only a million
Pound bank-note in his possession but Oliver believes he can. The play takes us along on Henry’s misadventures with humor and surprise to discover who will win the bet.
Summary and homewor