John Irving scripted this screen adaptation of his 1985 novel. Set during World War II, The Cider House Rules concerns Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire), an orphan who spent most of his childhood at the St. Cloud Orphanage in rural Maine, where he grew up under the strong but affectionate care of Dr. Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine).
script：我们知道script是名词，有"剧本，手稿，笔迹"等含意，其实 script在口语中也常用作动词，就是"写剧本，把……改编为剧本"的 意思。例如This famous story is being scripted for a movie. 这个著名的故事正在被改编成剧本。 Maine：美国缅因州，位于美国版图的东北角，位于乡下的孤儿院就是主人公荷马小时候生活的地方。
Larch has passed along his medical education to Homer, and the young man helps the doctor care for abandoned children and the newborn babies of unwed mothers. However, Homer refuses to assist Larch with the illegal abortions that he performs on the side; Homer has moral objections to abortion, while Larch believes in the rights of the individual and sees it as his duty to keep women in need away from dangerous incompetents.
unwed mother：wed是"婚礼"的意思，很简单，"未婚妈妈"也就是unwed mother。 illegal abortions：非法流产。在美国，不是因为遗传性疾病等原因而采取人工流产是非法的，因为美国法律认为未出生的婴儿也拥有rights of the individual。因此，在illegal abortion方面荷马和拉奇教授产生了分歧，到底是应该保护未出生婴儿，还是应该帮助unwed mothers流产。
