Unit 13 The mystery of the Moonstone
Step 1 Pre-reading:
1.What do you already know about the story The Moonstone?
Something about the Moonstone
2.How many main characters in the novel? Who are they?
Characters :
Rachel Verinder : a beautiful and wealthy young woman, who lives with her mother and several servants in a fine house in England.
Godfrey: a successful bachelor with many lady admirers, who asks Rachel to marry him .
Franklin Blake: Rachel’s childhood friend.
Dr. Candy: a local doctor who has a quarrel with Franklin about a prescription.
The Indians They follow the Moonstone around the world wait for an opportunity to take it back .
Rosanna: Rachel’s maid who seems fond of Franklin.
Sergeant Cuff: a policeman.
Step 2 Fast reading
Make the students try summing up the main ideas of some paragraphs, then show them some suggested ones.
Para 1 : sth about the moonstone
Para 2: some information about Rachel
Para 3 : the tension and strange things caused by the moonstone
Para 4 : sth happened at Rachel’s birthday party
Para 5 : the miss of the moonstone and Sergeant Cuff’s discovering
Para 6 : the 1st suspect
Para 7 : the 2nd suspect
Para 8 : the 3rd suspect
Para 9 : the 4th suspect
Para 10: Sergeant’s vital clue
Analyse the structure of the passage:
Part 1 ---- Paragraph 1 : How Rachel gets the Moonstone as her present.
Part 2 ---- Paragraph 2: Rachel’s happy life before her eighteenth birthday party.
Part 3 ---- Para 3-4: What happens at the party.
Part 4 ---- Para 5: the Moonstone is missing and Sergeant Cuff is asked to investigate the case.
Part 5 ---- Para 6-9: how Sergeant Cuff analyse the case
Part 6 ---- Para.10 the last paragraph: Sergeant Cuff finds a vital clue of the theft ---- a smear in the wet paint on the door.
Step 3 Careful reading
1.Who gave Rachel the Moonstone ?Why did he give it to her ?Where did her uncle get the Moonstone ?
Rachel’s uncle gave her the Moonstone .He wanted to pass on his bad fortune to her in an act of revenge .He stole the diamond from the temple in India.
2.What happened to the diamond after the birthday party ?
It was gone .
Sergeant Cuff thought many people might have stolen the diamond .Who do you think stole the diamond ?
Decide true or false:
1.The man who stole the Moonstone left it to his sister’s daughter because he loved her very much. F
2.Godfrey was under suspicious for stealing the diamond because Rachel refused his marriage . 3.Sergeant Cuff has one vital clue_ the stained garment . F
4.Franklin’s being love with Rachel made Dr Candy angry for Dr Candy loved her deeply. F
5.Rosanna may have taken the diamond to please Franklin who had heavy debts. F
Choose the best answers
1.Why did the man who stole the Moonstone give it to his sister’s daughter ? C
A. Because he wanted to help her
B. Because he had no other relatives
C. Because he wanted to pass on his bad fortune to her
D. The text didn’t tell us
2. Why did Franklin quit smoking ? B
A. Because smoking damaged his health
B. Because Rachel asked him to
C. Because he wanted to please Rachel
D. The servants asked him to
3. Why did Godfrey ask Rachel to marry him ? A
A. Because he wanted to get the Moonstone because of his heavy debt
B. Because he loved her
C. Because he didn’t wish Rachel to marry Franklin
D. Because he wanted to destroy her family
4. The word “ vital ” is closest in meaning to ______ . B
A. deadly B. important C. curious D. clear
5. Why didn’t Rachel answer the detective’s question ? A
A. Because she loved him and she wanted to protect him
B. Because she didn’t see him move the Moonstone
C. She was afraid of being killed by Franklin
D. Because she hated Franklin
6. Who moved the Moonstone at night ? B
A. Dr. Candy B. Franklin C. Godfrey D. Rachel’s mother
7. You can find out the topic of the text simply from ______ . A
A. the title B. the first paragraph
C. the second paragraph D. the last paragraph
8. When did the real story of the Moonstone take place ? B
A. In the 1890s B. In the 1790s C. In the 1840s D. In the 1800s
9. In your opinion , who might kill Godfrey ? D
A. Franklin B. Dr. Candy C. Rachel D. The Indians
10. How many people saw Franklin move the Moonstone to his bedroom ? A
A. 2 B. 3 C. 4 D. No one
Step 4 Post-reading:
1. Rachel’s birthday party was not a success. Why not?
Several arguments and strange things happened: Godfrey proposed marriage to Rachel and was turned down, Franklin argued with Mr. Candy, and Indian entertainers arrived but gave poor entertainment. The passage also suggests a reason why the party was not successful might be the bad luck of the Moonstone.
Why did Sergeant Cuff think Franklin might have stolen the diamond?
He is enthusiastic to help the investigation even though this makes Rechel very angry. Is he covering up hid guilt?
A list about the suspects and reasons :
Suspects
Reasons for Suspicion

The Indians
They followed the Moonstone around the world waiting for an opportunity to take it back to India .

Godfrey
He might have stolen the Moonstone as revenge for loss of face ,because Rachel turned down his proposal of marriage .

Dr Candy
As with Godfrey, he lost face because of the quarrelling with Franklin.

Rachel
Perhaps she had debts that needed to be paid .

Rosanna
She might have taken the diamond either from force of habit ,for she was a thief before Rachel’s mother gave her a job or cause a disagreement between Rachel and Franklin

Franklin
He gave the detective assistance.His enthusiasm was the reason why he was suspected ,because it was not his business.

Step 5 What are the main clue of the story?
The detective story develops completely following the structure: the appearance of the Moonstone (receiving from Rachel’s uncle) ---- the loss of the Moonstone ---- the investigation of the Moonstone (and the person who might have stolen it )---- discovery of the truths or facts.
Integrating Skills Solving the mystery of the moonstone
Step 1 Lead-in
In reading part, sergeant cuff had several suspects and it was difficult for him to make certain who was the theft. For the sake of the clue mentioned by cuff, can you guess the real theft?
Scan the passage and make out how the story develops:
Part 1---- Paras 1-2: how puzzled Sergeant Cuff was at the case before he knew the truth.
Part 2---- Paras3-7: the things that happened after the diamond had been stolen.
Part 3----Paras 8-9: the result of the case: Sergeant Cuff discovered the thief.
Part 4----: the feeling and thoughts Sergeant Cuff has about the case.
Step 2 Read the passage and finish the exercise
Get the students to read the passage and ask some questions:
1.Who was it that wrote the passage? _______
A Rachel B Rosanna C Franklin D the sergeant
2. Why did Rachel cancel the wedding after her accepting Godfrey? Because _____
A Rachel never loved him that much.
B Rachel sensed Godfrey loved her great wealth extremely. C The Indians attacked Godfrey.
2. Why did the author say the case of the moonstone was most unusual?______
A It is difficult to distinguish the many characters referred to in the text.
B Because of there being no effective clues
C Because there was the clue only, but it was hard to find the person leaving it behind.
3. According to the text, who made the sergeant not suspect Franklin any more?______
A Rachel and Rosanna B Dr. Candy C Franklin himself and Dr. Candy
4. We are told who the real theft was.__________
A Rachel and Franklin B the Indians C Godfrey D. Sergeant Cuff
5.Which one is correct in the following?
A Godfrey bought the moonstone at a high price.
B Sergeant Cuff didn’t know the reason for Godfrey’s death so he wasn’t a professional detective.
C The moonstone was gone without any cause at last.
D The passage is about how the sergeant finished the case of the moonstone.