THE MILLION POUND BANK NOTE

ACT 1, SCENE3

Narrator: Two rich brothers, Roderick and Oliver, have made a bet. Oliver believes that with a million­pound bank note a man could live a month in London. His brother Roderick doubts it. They see a poor young man walking outside their house. It is Henry Adams.

Roderick: Young man, would you step inside a moment, please?

Henry: Who? Me, sir?

Roderick: Yes, you.

Servant: (opening a door) Good morning, sir. Would you please come in?

(Henry enters the house.)

Roderick: How do you do, Mr...er...?

Henry: Adams. Henry Adams.

Oliver: Come and sit down, Mr. Adams.

Henry: Thank you.

Roderick: You’re an American?

Henry: That’s right, from San Francisco.

Roderick: May we ask what you’re doing in this country and what your plans are?

Henry: Well, I can’t say that I have any plans. As a matter of fact, I landed in Britain by accident.

Oliver: How is that possible?

Henry: Well, I had my own boat. About a month ago, I was sailing, and towards night I found myself carried out to sea by a strong wind. The next morning I was spotted by a ship.

Oliver: And it was the ship that brought you to England.

Henry: Yes. I went to the American consulate to seek help, but...Anyway, I didn’t dare to try again. (The brothers smile at each other.)

Roderick: Well, you mustn’t worry about that. It’s an advantage.

Henry: I’m afraid I don’t quite follow you, sir.

Roderick: Tell us, what sort of work did you do in America?

Henry: I worked for a mining company. Could you offer me work here?

Roderick: Patience. If you don’t mind, may I ask you how much money you have?

Henry: Well, to be honest, I have none.

Oliver: (happily) What luck! Brother, what luck!

Henry: Well, it may seem lucky 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 ought to be on my way.

Roderick: Please don’t go. You mustn’t think we don’t care about you, Oliver, give him the letter.

Oliver: Yer, I was about to go get the letter.

Wait！(getting it from a desk and giving it to Henry) The letter.

Henry: (taking it carefully) For me?

Roderick: For you. (Henry starts to open it.) Oh, no, you’d better not open it. You can’t open it until two o’clock.

Henry: Oh, this is silly.

Roderick: Not silly. There’s money in it.

Henry: Oh, no. I don’t want your charity. I just want a job that earns an honest income.

Roderick: We know you’re hard­working. That’s why we’ve given you the letter. (to the servant) Show Mr. Adams out.

Henry: Well, why don’t you explain what this is all about?

Roderick: You’ll soon know. In exactly an hour and a half.

Servant: This way, sir.

Roderick: Not until 2 o’clock. Promise?

Henry: Promise. Goodbye.

SPACE: THE FINAL FRONTIER

“Are we alone? What’s out there?” People have always looked up at the stars and wondered about space. Today, scientists design vehicles to carry astronauts into space to make important discoveries.Space exploration has come a long way, and we now hope to discover other planets that are suitable enough to support life.

Before the mid­20th century, most people felt travelling into space was only a dream that could never come true. However, scientists were determined to realise that dream. After many experiments, they succeeded in making rockets that could escape Earth's gravity. On 4 October 1957, the Sputnik 1 satellite was launched by the USSR and successfully orbited around Earth. Afterwards, the USSR focused on sending people into space, and on 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first person in the world to enter space. Over eight years later, on 20 July 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, famously saying, “That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.” Following this, there were many more important space achievements. For example, on 5 September 1977, America’s NASA space agency launched Voyager 1 to study deep space, and it still transmits data to this day. And the International Space Station (1998) has provided a continuous human presence in space, with astronauts from many different countries on board.

Although scientists try to make sure nothing goes wrong, accidents can still happen. For example, all the astronauts on the Soyuz 11, Challenger, and Columbia spacecrafts died during their missions. However, while such disasters brought much sadness and disappointment, the desire to explore the universe did not die. This is because people believe in the importance of carrying on space exploration despite the huge risks.

China’s space programme started later than those of Russia and the US, but it has made great progress in a short time. China became the third country in the world to independently send humans into space in 2003, when Yang Liwei successfully orbited Earth in the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft. Then Shenzhou 6 and 7 completed a second manned orbit and the first Chinese spacewalk, followed by the vehicle Jade Rabbit being sent to the moon to study its surface. On 23 July 2020, China sent Tianwen 1 to explore the surface of Mars. It arrived in February 2021 and then sent back lots of valuable information. And from 2021 to 2022, China completed a number of rocket missions to establish its own space station. In 2022, the launch of the Mengtian module signaled the basic completion of the Tiangong Space Station. This modern space station will allow astronauts to conduct many important experiments, greatly furthering our understanding of the universe.

The future of space exploration remains bright. Many countries have plans to further study planets like Mars and Jupiter. Despite the difficulties, scientists hope to make more valuable discoveries that will enable the human race to survive well into the future.

MOTHER OF TEN THOUSAND BABIES

“Life is Precious. To a person nothing is more precious than their life, and if they entrust me with that life, how could I refuse that trust, saying I’m cold, hungry, or tired?” These words of Dr Lin Qiaozhi give us a look into the heart of this amazing woman, and what carried her through a life of hard choices.

As a five­year­old girl, Lin Qiaozhi was deeply affected by her mother’s death. At age 18, instead of following the traditional path of marriage like the majority of girls, she chose to study medicine. “Why should girls learn so much? Finding a good husband should be their final goal!” her brother complained, thinking of the high tuition fees She responded, “I’d rather stay single to study all my life!”

Eight years later, Lin graduated from Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) with the Wenhai Scholarship, the highest prize given to graduates. She immediately became the first woman ever to be hired as a resident physician in the OB­GYN department of the PUMC Hospital. Within six months, she was named a chief resident physician, a position that usually took four years to achieve. After working for a few years, she was sent to study in Europe and then, in 1939, in the US. She greatly impressed her American colleagues, who invited her to stay. Dr Lin, however, rejected the offer. She wanted to serve the women and children at home.

In 1941, Dr Lin became the first Chinese women ever to be appointed director of the OB­GYN department of the PUMC Hospital, but just a few months later, the department was closed because of the war. Thinking of all the people still in need of help, Dr Lin opened a private clinic. She charged very low fees to treat patients and often reduced costs for poor patients. At times she was even seen riding a donkey to faraway villages to provide medical care.

The new People’s Republic of China saw Dr Lin Qiaozhi playing a key role. In 1954，she was elected to the first National People’s Congress and, over the next several decades, she held many important positions. Her heart, however, was elsewhere. She was more interested in tending patients, publishing medical research on care for women and children, and training the next generation of doctors. “The OB­GYN department cares for two lives,” she told new staff in her department. “As doctors, we should be responsible for the patients and treat them as our sisters.”

Though Lin Qianzhi never married, she was known as the “mother of ten thousand babies”, having delivered over 50,000 babies in her lifetime. Dr Lin did not retire until the day she died, 22 April 1983. Since she had no children of her own she left her savings to a kindergarten and a fund for new doctors. And even as she lay dying, her final thoughts were for others. “I’m ready to go,” she said. “Don’t try to rescue me any more. Don’t waste the medicine any more.”

Wednesday, 21 June

Today was my first day back in San Francisco after camping in the Redwood Forest and visiting the wine country of Napa Valley. I have to admit that it definitely feels good to be back in the city again. And what a city—a city that was able to rebuild itself after the earthquake that occurred in 1906. There are so many beautiful old buildings—many siting on top of big hills, offering great views of the city, the ocean, and the Golden Gate Bridge.

My hotel is near downtown, in the Mission District, one of the oldest parts of the city. Many of the people living here are from Mexico or Central America. This district used to be a poor area of town, but is now a centre for art, music, and food. In fact, an art movement called the “Mission School” started here. It’s influenced by graffiti art and comic art. I walked around looking at the street art for a few hours. It was quite modern and lively. Afterwards, I ate some delicious Mexican-Chinese noodles from a food truck. A real mix of cultures here!

In the afternoon, I headed to a local museum that showed the historical changes in California. I learnt that America got California from Mexico in 1848. In the same year, gold was discovered near San Francisco, which started a gold rush. Over 300,000 people came from all over the world to seek their fortune, and San Francisco quickly became a big city. Many Chinese arrived during this period. To earn a living, some opened up shops and restaurants in Chinatown. Many others found jobs on farms, joined the gold rush, or went to build the railway that joined California to the eastern region of the country. The museum did a really good job of showing how America was built by immigrants from different countries and cultures. When these immigrants left their countries, they carried a bit of home in their hearts, and built a new home here.

This evening, I went to Chinatown. There were so many cafés and restaurants to choose from. I selected a Cantonese restaurant that served its food on beautiful china plates. What great food! That’s enough for today. Tomorrow evening, I’m going to a jazz bar in the Richmond Distinct. Can’t wait!

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