It was nice to read in the papers that a millionaire made $314,900,000 honestly (before taxes).

Andrew "Jack" Whittaker, a native of Hurricane, W.Va., held the winning ticket in the Powerball lottery.1

Hollywood immediately went to work on a movie.

The producer2 says, "Okay, this a great story. It has everything --- suspense, inspiration and, of course, money. Everyone dreams of winning a lottery. Jack Whittaker is a hero, and we want to show a simple man caught up in a unbelievable world."3

Writer: "We open with a shot of a gas station in Hurricane."

Producer: "We have to change the town's name. No one would ever win a lottery from a town named Hurricane. If we are going to cast Jack Nicholson, it should be called Bedford Falls.4"

Writer: "Good thinking, boss. Okay, Jack is a good man but down on his luck.5"

Producer: "But the lucky guy who won was a millionaire even before he won the lottery."

Writer: "You have no plot6 if he doesn't have financial worries at the beginning."

Producer: "Right-o. The theme of the picture is, you can still have monetary problems even if you're a millionaire."7

Writer: "Like the guys at Enron8. Now for the plot.9 Suppose on the way to the bank Jack's uncle loses the winning ticket."

Producer: "Good idea. The whole town knows about it, but they don't believe him.They think Jack has put his money in an offshore account in the Cayman Islands.10"

Writer: "Jack looks everywhere to find his ticket. In desperation he goes to the mean Bedford Falls banker, Anthony Hopkins.11 Jack begs the banker to loan him $315 million until he finds the ticket.12 The banker laughs at him. 'I wouldn't even loan it to you if you put up your WorldCom stock as collateral.'13 "

Producer: "Where do we go from here?"

Writer: "Jack is about to commit suicide, when who should show up but an angel."14

Producer: "An angel. Haven't I seen that before?"15

Writer: "Who's going to remember it? The angel has been assigned to find Jack's lottery ticket."

Producer: "Do you mind telling me how?"

Writer: "The angel tells Jack he gave it to the parking lot attendant by mistake the night he went to the movies."16

Producer: "What a finish!"17

Writer: "At the end, Jack appears on Jerry Falwell18's TV show. Falwell says if Whittaker wants to get with the Lord he should give the $315 million to Falwell's'Old Time Gospel Hour.' "

Producer: "What an ending. We've got another 'It's a Wonderful Life.' "

1. 本文源于真实的事件。美国“强力球”(Powerball) 彩票在连续十六期头奖轮空后，在去年圣诞节开奖时，头奖由一注独中，奖金近3亿一千五百万美元。这是美国历史上一注独中的最高派彩。美国 “强力球”（Powerball） 彩票在美国已有100多年的历史。玩法是从53个白球中抽出5个，再从42个红球中抽出1个。如果玩者猜中全部6个号码球的话，即可赢得头奖。获奖者是来自西弗吉尼亚（W.Va.）的商人安德鲁·杰克·惠特克。

2. producer:（电影、电视片等的）制片人。

3. 因制片人急于表达自己的想法，这句话中出现了两处不规范的表达（如this a great story，应为this is a great story，和a unbelievable world应为an unbelievable world）。suspense: 悬念；inspiration: 鼓舞人心的人（或事物）；catch up: 被迷住，被缠住。

4. Jack Nicholson: 杰克·尼科尔森，美国著名演员。Bedford Falls是1946年的电影《风云人物》（即本文最后提到的电影It's a Wonderful Life）的故事发生地。影片的情节是：乔治在美国贝德福德·福斯小镇上的一家银行从事风险投资工作，他的工作很失败，结果债台高筑。圣诞夜，乔治决定一死了之。天堂里的两位圣人知道后，决定派一名天使帮助乔治摆脱困境，终于使他体会到了人生的真谛。影片由当时美国的著名影星詹姆斯·史都华主演。我们不难看出这部电影的构思是对《风云人物》的模仿。

5. 杰克是个好人，但并不走运。down on one's luck: 不走运的。

6. plot:（小说、戏剧等的）情节。

7. Right-o:（感叹词）对啦；theme: 主题；monetary: 金钱的。

8. Enron: 安然公司。此处指安然公司虽然是美国大公司，但仍逃脱不了破产的命运。下文提到的世通公司（orldCom）在2002年爆出美国历史上最大的假账事件。

9. 现在来讨论剧情。Now for: 现在着手于……。

10. 他们认为杰克把钱存到开曼群岛的外国帐户里了。Cayman Islands: 开曼群岛，是加勒比海地区颇具声誉的海外金融中心。

11. 绝望中，他求助于贝德福德·福斯吝啬的银行家，安东尼·霍普金斯。Anthony Hopkins: 安东尼·霍普金斯，美国著名演员。

12. 杰克恳求银行家在他找到彩票之前借给他3亿1千5百万美元（正好是彩票的奖金）。

13. 如果你用世通公司的股票作担保，我也不会把钱借给你。collateral: 担保品。

14. 杰克就要自杀的时候，一个天使出现了。show up: <口>露面。

15. 意思是制片人已经觉得看过此类情节（1946年的电影《风云人物》情节与此酷似）。

16. 天使告诉他杰克去看电影时，错把彩票给了停车场管理员。the movies: 一场电影。

17. 多妙的结局！

18. Jerry Falwell: 杰里·福尔韦尔，一位著名牧师。Old Time Gospel Hour（古老福音）是他办的一档电视节目。