北京外国语大学英语系 魏峥

　　I have a friend who hates banks with a special passion. "A bank is just a store like a candy store or a grocery store,"he says. "The only difference is that a bank's goods happen to be money, which is yours in the first place. If banks were required to sell wallets and money belts, they might act less like churches."I began thinking about my friend the other day as I walked into a small, overlighted branch office on the West Side. I had come to open a checking account.

　　It was lunchtime and the only officer on duty was a fortyish black man with short, pressed hair, a pencil mustache, and a neatly pressed brown suit. Everything about him suggested a carefully dressed authority.

　　This officer was standing across a small counter from a young white boy who was wearing a V-necked sweater, khakis, and loafers. He had sandy hair, and I think I was especially aware of him because he looked more like a kid from a prep school than a customer in a West Side bank.

　　The boy continued to hold my attention because of what happened next.

　　He was holding an open savings-account book and wearing an expression of open dismay. "But I don't understand,"he was saying to the officer. "I opened the account myself, so why can't I withdraw any money?" "I've already explained to you,"the officer told him, "That a fourteen-year-old is not allowed to withdraw money without a letter from his parents."

　　"But that doesn't seem fair," the boy said, his voice breaking. "It's my money. I put it in. It's my account."

　　"I know it is," the officer said, "But those are the rules. Now if you'll excuse me."

　　He turned to me with a smile. "May I help you, sir?" I didn't think twice. "I was going to open a new account," I said, "But after seeing what's going on here, I think I've changed my mind."

　　"Excuse me?" he said.

　　"Look," I said. "If I understand what's going on here correctly, what you're saying is that this boy is old enough to deposit his money in your bank but he's not old enough to withdraw it. And since there doesn't seem to be any question as to whether it's his money or his account, the bank's so-called policy is clearly ridiculous." "It may seem ridiculous to you," he replied in a voice rising slightly in irritation, "But that is the bank's policy and I have no other choice but to follow the rules." The boy had stood hopefully next to me during this exchange, but now I was just as helpless. Suddenly I noticed that the open savings book he continued to grasp showed a balance of about . It also showed that there had been a series of small deposits and withdrawals.

　　I had my opening.

　　"Have you withdrawn money before by yourself?" I asked the boy.

　　"Yes," he said.

　　I moved in for the kill.1

　　"How do you explain that?" I zeroed in on2 the officer. "Why did you let him withdraw money before, but not now?" He looked annoyed. "Because the tellers were not aware of his age before and now they are. It's really very simple." I turned to the boy with a shrug. "You're really getting cheated," I said. "You ought to get your parents to come in here and protest." The boy looked destroyed. Silently, he put his savings book in rear-pocket and walked out of the bank.

　　The officer turned to me. "You know," he said, "You really shouldn't have interfered."

　　"Shouldn't have interfered?" I shouted. "Well, it damn well3 seemed to me that he needed someone to represent his interests." "Someone was representing his interests," he said softly.

　　"And who might that be?"

　　"The bank." I couldn't believe what this idiot was saying. "Look," I concluded, "We're just wasting each other's time. But maybe you'd like to explain exactly how the bank was representing that boy's interests?"

　　"Certainly," he said. "We were informed this morning that some neighborhood bully has been shaking this boy down4 for more than a month. The other guy was forcing him to take money out every week and hand it over. The poor kid was apparently too scared to tell anyone. That's the real reason he was so upset. He was afraid of what the other guy would do to him. Anyway, the police are on the case and they'll probably make an arrest today."

　　"You mean there is no rule about being too young to withdraw money from savings account?" "Not that I ever heard of. Now, sir, what can we do for you?"

　　这个故事是作者对一次亲身经历的描述，是一篇写得十分成功的记叙文。文章叙事清楚，描写细致生动，读来颇具意味。我们在开始学习英文写作时首先应该学会写记叙文，记叙文是写其它形式的文章的基础，这个故事为我们提供了一个写作范例。

　　通常记叙文包括六个要素：事件、地点、人物、事件起因、经过、结果，这篇文章也不例外。简而言之，文中描述的事件发生在一天中午，the West Side的一家银行里，作者因一名银行职员拒绝为一个男孩提供取款服务而打抱不平，与银行职员发生争执，事件的结果出乎意料，作者得知银行职员实际上是在协助警方保护男孩免受坏人团伙的伤害。记叙文所要传达的主题思想有时隐含在叙事过程之中，有时在文章的开头和结尾处点出。写这篇文章时，作者在文章的开头向读者谈到他在故事发生之前对银行的看法。他和他的朋友一向认为由于金融和宗教一样与人们的生活密不可分，因此银行也像教堂一样影响、控制着人们生活的方方面面，在现代社会，它对人们发号施令，简直是在履行着上帝的职能，所以他们厌恶银行。在文章的结尾作者叙事完毕时虽然没有明确讲出这个故事所要传达的意思，但是其写作意图已经不言而喻了，即在经历了银行中发生的这件事后，他对银行的成见消除了，对银行有了新的正面认识。

　　这篇记叙文按照事件发生的先后顺序写成，从从容容，自然流畅，情节描写有主有次，重点突出，能够很好地为表达中心思想服务。例如在叙述他为男孩据理力争时，作者着重讲述了他和银行职员的两次交锋(exchange)。第一次争论的起因是银行职员以银行规定十四岁的孩子无父母许可信不能取款为由拒绝为男孩取款(a fourteen-year-old is not allowed to withdraw money without a letter from his parents)，作者指出银行此规定的不合理之处。第二次争论发生在作者发现男孩的存折上显示他曾经有过存取经历之后(there had been a series of small deposits and withdrawals)，按捺不住气愤之情，向银行职员提出责问，但是银行职员依然“无理狡辩”。对这两个关键情节的描述不但突出了结尾的出人意料之处，而且加强了故事的真实性。

　　记叙文的细节描写对于刻画人物、渲染气氛、烘托主题起着举足轻重的作用。细致生动的细节描写能够带给读者身临其境的感觉，从而增加文章的吸引力。这篇文章的人物外貌描写也很细腻。作者把银行职员塑造成西装笔挺、头发胡须精心修整、举手投足透着威严的形象(...a fortyish black man with short, pressed hair, a pencil mustache, and a neatly pressed brown suit. Everything about him suggested a carefully dressed authority.)，而把男孩刻画成一个穿着随便，相形之下显得弱小无助的形象(...a young white boy who was wearing a V-necked sweater, khakis, and loafers. ...)，使二者形成鲜明对比，给读者留下了深刻的印象。

　　这篇文章不仅向我们展示了记叙文的写作技巧，还为我们学习语言提供了很好的机会。这篇文章中包含着许多和银行业务有关的词汇，如果我们注意总结积累，就可以充实自己的词汇，提高语言表达能力。下面是这篇文章中出现的与bank相关的词汇。

　　branch office (银行)分理处，储蓄所

　　the bank's policy银行政策

　　the bank rules银行规则

　　to represent the customer's interests代表客户利益

　　a bank officer银行职员

　　a bank teller银行出纳员

　　deposit(s)存款

　　withdrawal(s)取款

　　to open an account开户

　　a savings account定期帐户

　　a checking account活期帐户

　　a balance of 100美元的结余

　　to deposit one's money把某人的钱存入银行

　　to withdraw money from the bank从银行取钱

　　to take money out把钱取出

　　to put money in the bank把钱存入银行

　　an open savings account book一个打开的存折

　　以上词汇中deposit既可以作动词也可以作名词，withdraw是动词，它的名词形式是withdrawal。定期帐户除a savings account以外，还可以说a deposit account或a fixed account;活期帐户除a checking account外还说a current account。