Blackmail 高级英语第六课背景知识介绍.pptVIP

His well-known works first TV drama (1958) first novel (1959) His well-known works newscasters(1990) last novel (1997) About Hotel The St. Gregory Hotel is the largest in New Orleans, Louisiana. For 4 days from Monday evening to Friday, the hotel goes through a succession of dramatic events. With the hotel’s mortgage due by the weekend and with no chance of getting further renewal, the owner, Warren Trent, reluctantly makes up his mind to sell his hotel to a chain hotel owner, Curtis O’Keefe. Ending of Hotel However, the novel ends with a pleasant surprise. A sick, old eccentric man staying in the hotel turns out to be an extremely wealthy man from Montreal, Canada. Earlier, he fell seriously ill and was saved by Peter and his girl friend. To show his gratitude and repay their kindness, he buys the hotel from its former owner and makes Peter the new executive vice-president, with complete authority to run the hotel. Blackmail 起源于一个海盗部落的旧例，海盗们欺凌百姓横行乡里，他们向苏格兰的农夫们收取保护金，如果农夫们不给，他们就偷取他们的庄稼和牲畜。mail 在古英语中有定金，保证金的意思，black或者表示这种做法的黑暗，或者表示这种保护费是以实物如牛等进行支付的，区别于银币，也就是白色的钱。 1552年这个词第一次出现，到1826年衍生为敲诈，勒索的意思。 Summary On Monday evening while driving back with his wife from a gambling house, the Duke knocked down a woman and her child and killed both. Instead of reporting to the police, the Duke and Duchess drove away. The hotel’s chief house detective Ogilvie noticed the battered car when it came back. Ogilvie went to see the Duke and Duchess, promised to keep quiet about what he had discovered and asked for a large sum of money in return for the favor. The Duchess understood the hot situation she and her husband were in and agreed to give Ogilvie twice the money he had charged if he drove their car to Chicago in the north. Ending of the Duke At first the Duchess tries to deny everything, but doesn’t succeed in convincing the police. The Duke then decides to go over to police headquarters before they come for him, wishing to