Signalman and the ghost at the time of the trial

Author: Charles Dickens
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-01
Features: Easy Read Classics Series. To promote English learning among Chinese middle school students and cultivate their cultural literacy and literary appreciation, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, after extensive deliberation and market research, decided to introduce a series of abridged literary classics from Macmillan Publishing Company in the UK to Chinese middle school students. From this series of abridged literary classics by Macmillan, SFLP carefully selected 40 books, compiling them into the "Easy Read Classics Series," with difficulty levels spanning levels 3 to 8 of the "English Curriculum Standards." This series includes classic works by literary masters from the UK, the US, France, and other countries, featuring the works of renowned authors such as Shakespeare, Dickens, Mark Twain, Hardy, and Alexandre Dumas. To help middle school students better grasp the essence of the original works and the creative journeys of the authors, SFLP has also specially annotated the language difficulties in the texts and included background introductions about the authors and their works. We sincerely hope that the "Easy Read Classics Series" will help improve the literary appreciation level of Chinese middle school students, cultivate their moral character, enhance their English reading ability, and become the golden key to opening the door to reading English literary classics for middle school students.
In this book, two of the short stories are ghost stories: "The Signal-Man," written in 1866. The signalman works at a signal box. A signal box is a special building near the railway tracks. Every station has a signal box. There is one at each end of every tunnel. The signalman closely watches the trains and sends information about them to each other. In this story, a trial for a murder case is about to take place. The police have arrested a man who is accused of murdering his friend. In the courtroom, the defendant will be asked many questions. In the era when this story takes place, judges, lawyers, and members of the jury were all male. At that time in England, women were not allowed to work in the courtroom. Murderers were executed by hanging, which means a noose was placed around the criminal's neck, and the rope was tightened, resulting in their death. In this story, people travel in horse-drawn carriages called "hansom cabs." These carriages are pulled by a single horse.