Each book uses characters, words, and grammar that a learner is most likely to know at each level based on in-depth analysis of textbooks, education programs, and natural Chinese language. Every story is written in a style that is easy for a learner to understand and enjoyable to read. Level 1 is intended for Chinese learners who have obtained a middle-elementary level of Chinese. Most students will be able to approach this book after one to two years of traditional formal study. This story is written using approximately 300 characters and contains approximately 400 elementary words. Mr. Xie was recently hired by the Curly Haired Company. For a significant weekly allowance, he was required to sit in an office and copy articles from a book, in the meantime his assistant looked after his shop. He had answered an advertisement in the paper and although hundreds of people applied, he was the only one selected because of his very curly hair. When the company unexpectedly closed, Mr. Xie visited Gao Ming (Sherlock Holmes) with this strange story. Gao Ming is certain something is not right, but will he solve the mystery in time?

    

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    College Writing Skills With Reading features John Langan's clear writing style and his wide range of writing assignments and activities that effectively reinforce the four essentials of good writing: unity, support, coherence, and sentence skills. This alternate version provides 25 entertaining and informative essays by professional writers.

    He stumbles (quite literally) into a murky netherworld where he learns that he does have a talent after all - he can kill.Flying by the seat of his pants, Tom muddles his way through his new career, balancing the needs of his underworld bosses, his unknowing girlfriend and his knowing-too-much best friend. He's caught up in a rip-tide of events that he's forced to see through to the bitter - and darkly comic - end.

    Each book uses characters, words, and grammar that a learner is most likely to know at each level based on in-depth analysis of textbooks, education programs, and natural Chinese language. Every story is written in a style that is easy for a learner to understand and enjoyable to read.Level 1 is intended for Chinese learners who have obtained a middle-elementary level of Chinese. Most students will be able to approach this book after one to two years of traditional formal study. The Secret Garden is written in simplified Chinese using approximately 300 unique characters, contains approximately 400 elementary words, and is 9,800 characters in length. Plot SummaryLi Ye grew up never knowing the love and affection of her parents. After an epidemic leaves her an orphan, Li Ye is sent off to live with her reclusive Uncle in his sprawling estate in Nanjing. She learns of a secret garden where no one has set foot in ten years. Li Ye finds the garden and slowly discovers the secrets of the manor. With the help of new friends, she brings the garden back to life, a decision that forever changes several lives.Visit www.MandarinCompanion.com for the latest updates on new titles.

    The sixty-six stories found in Arabic Stories for Language Learners present the vocabulary and grammar used everyday in Arabic-speaking countries. Pulled from a wide variety of sources that have been edited and simplified for learning purposes, these stories are presented in parallel Arabic and English, facilitating language learning in the classroom and via self-study. Each story is followed by a series of questions in Arabic and English to test comprehension and encourage discussion.Arabic Stories for Language Learners brings Arab culture to life in a colorful and immediate way. Regardless of whether or not you have a working knowledge of Arabic, this book gives readers a tantalizing introduction to the wisdom and humor of these ancient desert-dwelling peoples. An audio CD in Arabic and English helps students of Arabic improve their pronunciation and inflection, and immerses non-students into the uniquely Arabic storytelling style.

     She must have been important because the mysterious client spared no expense to get her there to investigate the disappearance, making the gig too good to resist. Had Lindy known the victim’s identity, and her own financial reality were not so grim, she would have turned him down in an instant. Instead, she travels to a remote island with a man she’d rather avoid, and where the residents keep their secrets close. One of them knows the truth, and she must find it before it finds her.

    

    

    After all, he has secretly had a vasectomy. This is just the first of a series of blows that start to rain upon him. His chain of dress shops that was intended to lift him to the heights of prosperity that he had always dreamed about is feeling the chill winds of recession, and his teenage son has decided to make a mysterious trip to Spain instead of launching himself on the career that his parents expected. 'Life is a tease, ' Max decides, 'a series of receding targets designed to keep you on the move, like a laboratory experiment with rats.' His two drinking companions, Alec, a headmaster, and Laurie, a swashbuckling businessman, also find that middle age doesn't bring peace. Alec for years has secretly being living in sin; putting the matter right doesn't bring its expected happiness. And Laurie is married to an aggressive lady who thinks nothing of clipping off his moustache while he sleeps, or serving him a dog-food omelette. Worst of all, the three of them discover that the years spent being devoted parents have not produced the fine young offspring that they had set their hearts on. So what can the future hold for Max, with a child of unknown provenance on the way? At least there is always the solace of the Comedy Hotel.

    

    Then a brutal encounter leaves her pregnant at seventeen. Unwilling to break her widowed mother's heart, Beth bears her secret alone and gives up her baby daughter for adoption. It seems her desperate gamble has succeeded. She finishes school, takes on a challenging job and meets Michael, charming eldest son of the wealthy Rushton family. She has to fight both class prejudice and the jealousy of her old enemy Ursula to win him - but when he asks her to marry him, Beth faces a dilemma. Does she dare tell Michael her guilty secret and risk losing him? And even if he stands by her, can she bear the certainty that the brutal stranger who fathered her child will be at her wedding?

    Nominated for a whopping 10 Tony Awards in 2005, Wicked is an undeniable Broadway smash! A prequel to the all-American classic The Wizard of Oz , this new musical is a character study of Elphaba and Glinda, school roommates who grow up to become the Wicked Witch and the Good Witch, respectively. This songbook, in standard piano/vocal format with the melody in the piano part, feature a color photos from the production, a note from composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz, and these fantastic tunes: As Long as You're Mine * Dancing Through Life * Defying Gravity * For Good * I Couldn't Be Happier * I'm Not That Girl * No Good Deed * No One Mourns the Wicked * One Short Day * Popular * What Is This Feeling? * The Wizard and I * Wonderful.

    Perfect for fans of Val McDermid, Karin Slaughter and Patricia Cornwell.'The Queen of Crime' - Woman & Home on Hard GirlsThe deadly DI Kate Burrows trilogy: the only time Martina's written from the Old Bill's perspective.Kate is the hard-but-fair copper whose investigations - and heart - become dangerously entwined with London's most infamous gangster, Patrick Kelly. But when there's a killer on the loose, Kate Burrows is the only woman for the job. THE LADYKILLER. BROKEN. HARD GIRLS.