A Christmas Carol

《圣诞颂歌》是英国作家查尔斯·狄更斯1843年写的经典故事。故事讲的是一个很有钱但是很小气的老人斯克鲁奇，在圣诞节前的晚上遇到三个鬼，最后明白了爱和友情比钱更重要。这个故事让人想到：做好事、帮助别人、和家人在一起，才是真正的幸福。 Insperium Chinese 分级读物有两个目标。第一个，也是最重要的，是学习中文——用适合你水平的语言，让你的阅读一步一步进步，不让你太累。第二个目标是慢慢带你认识中国和世界的经典名著，这样你从 A1 一步一步学到 C1 的时候，也认识了每个有文化的读者都知道的重要故事。 这些书的每一个设计，都是为了让这段旅程尽可能轻松、有趣——读书就应该是读书的感觉，而不是「学习」的感觉。所以每一章都有精美的插画；所以每本书都有两个部分：Part A 在每个汉字上面都标了拼音，在你还在学习的时候陪着你；Part B 只有汉字，等你准备好了，再读一遍。 原版的小说很长。《三国演义》本来有一百多章，《红楼梦》有三十多个主要人物。我们在长度和语言难度上都做了很多简化，所以你现在就能读到这些故事。等你的中文更好的时候，原版的书还在那里等着你。 怎么使用这本书： 这本书有两个版本的故事。第一个版本（Part A）在每个汉字上面都有拼音。第二个版本（Part B）没有拼音——当你准备好了，可以试试不看拼音阅读。 在阅读之前，先看看「人物关系」和「重要词汇」这两页。这本书有插画，帮助你进入故事的世界。读完以后，你可以做后面的阅读理解题来检查你的理解。

A Christmas Carol is a classic tale written by English author Charles Dickens in 1843. It follows Ebenezer Scrooge, a wealthy but miserly old man who, on the night before Christmas, is visited by three ghosts and learns that love and friendship matter more than money. The story reminds us that doing good, helping others, and spending time with family are what bring true happiness. Insperium Chinese graded readers have two goals. The first and most important is language comprehension — Chinese at the right level to grow your reading step by step, without exhausting you. The second is a gradual introduction to the great classics of China and the wider world, so that as you climb from A1 to C1 you also meet the stories every educated reader knows. Everything about these books is built to make that journey as pleasant and entertaining as possible — reading should feel like reading, never like studying. That is why every chapter is fully illustrated, and why each book has two sides: Part A tells the story with pinyin above every character to carry you while you are still learning, and Part B tells it again in characters only, ready for the moment you are. The originals are large — Romance of the Three Kingdoms alone runs more than a hundred chapters, and Dream of the Red Chamber has over thirty principal characters. We have simplified them deeply, in both length and language level, so the story is reachable now. When your Chinese is ready, the originals will still be waiting. How to use this book: This book contains two versions of the story. The first version (Part A) has pinyin above every character. The second version (Part B) has no pinyin — try reading without it when you feel ready. Before you start, check the "Character Map" and "Key Vocabulary" pages. The book is illustrated throughout to help you sink into the world of the story. After reading, try the comprehension questions to check your understanding.