Mark Twain

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Mark Twain (1835—1910)

The greatest humorist of the 19th century in American literature. Also one of the greatestwriters in the world.

Real name

Meaning of his pen name

Birth date

Birthplace

Place where he grew up

His famous stories

NOTES

his masterpieceshis masterpieces

18761876

The Adventures The Adventures of Tom Sawyerof Tom Sawyer

his masterpieceshis masterpieces

18811881

The Adventures of The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnHuckleberry Finn

his short storieshis short stories

The £ 1,000,000 The £ 1,000,000 Bank-NoteBank-Note

Gregory Peck

Step Two 初步预测故事内容并讨论对金钱的态度。

What do you think may the story be about from the title?If you’ve got a large sum of money, what will you do with it?Do you think money is everything?Do you agree that only money can bring people happiness?

Step Three 介绍故事写作背景，继续预测故事内容并讨论日常生活的打赌经历和对用打赌解决事情这一方法的看法。So how does the million pound bank note come?

What will the rich brothers in the story do with the million pound bank note?

What is a bet? When do people make a bet?

What will the brothers bet on?

Have you ever made a bet with your friend?

What did you bet on? Did you win or lose?

What do you think of such a way to solve problems?

About the ￡ 1, 000,000 Bank-note 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 bank.

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 a million-pound bank-note, and no way to account for his being in possession of it? Would he starve to death or not? Would he get arrested if he tried to change it? Could he live for a month without being sent to jail?

The brothers could not agree on the fate of the young man, so they made a bet, which was a quite

common way to settle a problem at that time in Britain.

Step Four 猜测故事情节发展，激发学生对本剧本的兴趣。Could the brothers find such a person to test the bet?

If so, what will the man’s fate be like?

Step Five快速阅读 Act I Scene One and Scene Two, 了解故事发生背景，并回答下列问题。Where does this bank note come from?What will the owners do with it?Who is Henry Adams?How does he feel at that moment?Where does he go?Does he get any help there?

Step Six HomeworkLearn more about Mark Twain and his works over the internetLearn about the story—the million pound bank notehttp://atheisme.free.fr/Biographies/Twain_e.htmhttp://www.online-literature.com/twain/