The 24th Annual Book Report Competition for secondary school students
Class: 3A Student: Lee Ka Yi, Joyce
Title of the book: The £1,000,000 Bank Note
Author: Mark Twain
Publisher: Black Cat
This is a story about a young American who originally worked in San Francisco. One day, he was on his sailboat but he fell into the sea by a strong afternoon wind. Luckily, a small British brig pulled him back. After that, he arrived in London. Unfortunately, he had only one dollar in his pocket. He was then penniless. On the other hand, two old gentlemen were making a bet. Brother A guessed Henry would not use the banknote because he was poor, honest, intelligent and strange enough. However, brother B did not agree with him. If Henry did not use the banknote, he would get a good job and a big salary. At that time, everyone in London respected Henry very much because they knew that he was a millionaire. They gave him the best food to eat, the best place to live, the most elegant clothes to wear. Although he could enjoy the rich life now, he did not use the banknote. At the end, he returned the banknote to the old gentleman, and, the old gentleman gave him a wonderful job that Henry really wanted to have. That was being his daughter’s husband!
I think Henry was a really honest person because he never used the things that were not belonging to him, especially money. He was also really intelligent because he could use his ‘millionaire’ name to earn money himself. He could be a real millionaire by himself. I think if the old gentleman gave the million banknote to other people, they would use the banknote and would not return back to the old gentleman. It was because the million banknote was too attractive. If he gave it to me, maybe I would use it too. It is not easy to find a person like Henry that honest nowadays. Everyone loves money. They work for money. I really appreciate him. I hope I can be honest like him and other people can learn from him too.
I think brother A was a far-sighted person because he had just seen Henry once. He knew Henry was an honest and intelligent person. He knew Henry would not use the million banknote and he would return it to him. Also, he was intelligent too because he could find a good condition of husband for his daughter in this bet.
I think the gentleman’s daughter Portia was not a greedy person. Although she was a rich girl and she knew Henry was a very poor person, she still loved him and she did not want to leave him.
This is a good story. It teaches us a lot of things, for example, how to be an honest person. I believe that if we are not greedy, good luck will come soon. I will recommend this book to my classmates.