Moon Jade

Author: Compiled by the Writing Group of "Very English Student Extracurricular Reading Series"
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Read classic novels, learn English
The original curriculum standards only required junior high school students to master about 800 words and high school students about 2,000 words. However, after the implementation of the new curriculum, the vocabulary requirement for junior high school students has increased to 1,600–1,800 words, while high school students now need at least 3,300 words, along with the requirement for high school students to read at least 300,000 words of extracurricular reading materials. The current college entrance examination short passage reading section consists of passages of about 300 words each. Calculated this way, students must complete 1,000 such passages during their high school years, averaging one per day! How to make students develop a greater interest in reading within limited time, absorb more knowledge, expand their vocabulary, and improve their reading comprehension is a question worth considering for parents, teachers, and even society as a whole. It is also the issue that our "Very English Student Extracurricular Reading Series" is committed to addressing.
"The Moonstone" (1868), a novel by British author Wilkie Collins (1824–1889), revolves around a large diamond called "The Moonstone." It is composed of three parts: "The Diamond Theft," "The Truth Revealed," and "The Discovery of the Moonstone," forming a mysterious and enthralling story with a convoluted and captivating plot. Not only was it praised decades ago by the great poet and critic T.S. Eliot as "one of the greatest detective novels ever written in England," but literary historians still recognize it today as one of the finest detective novels in British literature.
In 1799, British army officer Henry Carmichael stole the Moonstone from an Indian temple and, consumed by guilt, gave it as a birthday gift to his daughter, Rachel. However, the diamond vanished on the night of her birthday. Many people were suspected. The famous detective Kaff came to solve the case, and Rachel confessed to seeing her lover Franklin take the diamond that night. But the true thief was Rachel's other suitor, Godfrey. After several twists and turns, the villains were punished, lovers reunited, and the diamond returned to the Indian temple.