The book I would like to talk about is The Merchant of Venice. The book is a dramatic work by Shakespeare, an English famous writer in the 16th century. It talks about something happening among merchants in Venice. The main characters are Bassanio, Portia, Shylock and Antonio.

The drama begins with Antonio, who helps Bassanio     1    , and then brings out other stories. Bassanio is a poor merchant. He needs money to     2    , a very beautiful and rich lady. He first wants to borrow money from his friend Antonio, also a merchant in Venice. Antonio borrows the money from a Jewish rich merchant Shylock. Shylock is a little mean and selfish. He     3    . He always asks the people who borrow him money for more. Antonio promises he will     4    , or Shylock will be allowed to cut out 1 pound of flesh out of Antonio’s body.

Bassanio successfully wins the love of Portia but soon realizes his friend can not pay the money back to Shylock on time. Bassanio     5     and attends a trial (审讯). The reason why Antonio isn’t able to pay is because his ships are caught in storm. Portia, dressing up as a young lawyer, claims (声称) that the words “l pound of flesh” not “l pound of flesh and blood”. She says that Shylock     6    , but not any blood, which is impossible. Thus, she helps make Antonio safe and make Shylock fail. At the same time, Shylock loses most of his money. In the end, Bassanio and Portia     7    .