The intersecting life stories of Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday in early twentieth century California is presented. Miner turn oilman Daniel Plainview is a driven man who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. He works hard but he also takes advantage of those around him at their expense if need be. His business partner is his son H.W., who in reality he “acquired” when H.W.’s biological single father, who worked on one of Daniel’s rigs, got killed in a workplace accident. Daniel is deeply protective of H.W. if only for what H.W. brings to the partnership. Eli Sunday is one in a pair of twins, whose family farm Daniel purchases for the major oil deposit located on it. Eli, the local preacher and a self-proclaimed faith healer, wants the money from the sale of the property to finance his own church. The lives of the two competitive men often clash as Daniel pumps oil off the property and tries to acquire all the surrounding land at bargain prices to be able to build a pipeline
参考翻译：
介绍了丹尼尔·普莱恩维尤和伊莱·桑迪在20世纪初加利福尼亚州的交叉生活故事。矿工出身的石油工人丹尼尔·普莱恩维尤是一个干劲十足的人，他会不惜一切代价实现自己的目标。他工作很努力，但如果需要的话，他也会利用身边的人。他的商业伙伴是他的儿子H.W.，实际上，他是在H.W.的亲生单身父亲在丹尼尔的一个钻井平台上工作，在一次工伤事故中丧生时“收购”的。丹尼尔对H.W.深为保护，哪怕只是因为H.W.给合伙企业带来了什么。Eli Sunday是一对双胞胎中的一个，他们的家庭农场Daniel购买了位于其上的主要石油矿藏。伊莱是当地的传教士，自称是信仰治疗者，他希望从出售房产中获得资金，为自己的教堂提供资金。当丹尼尔从这片土地上抽取石油，并试图以低廉的价格收购周围的所有土地，以便能够建造一条通往海岸的管道，以及当伊莱试图建立自己的宗教帝国时，这两个竞争对手的生活经常发生冲突。
重点词汇释义
will do一般将来时; 好的; 结构表示将来的用法
if need be需要的话;如有必要(英国英语中亦作 if needs be)
in reality事实上; 实际上
one of…之一
if only即使仅仅为了…; 要是…多好
a pair of一双
oil deposit油田；石油矿床
on it大量喝酒
faith healer信仰疗法治疗者
