この本は中級英語読み物「百万英語読書計画」シリーズの第三集の9つで、1500基本的な英語の語彙をマスターした読者に適している。
百万英語読書計画（Million-Word Reading Project，MWRP）は英語を第二言語または外国語として学ぶ者（ESL/EFL）に対する設計した英語読書向上計画である。読者は1500基本英語の語彙（初級英語相当）を習得した読者を対象に、2年、毎日約15分間の読書で中級英語のレベルに達し、3500語以上の単語と大量のフレーズをマスターし、英語の各構文を熟練にマスターし、一般英語の原典を読むことができる。
本文書の統計情報は下表を参照してください。選択時の参考になる。
可読性の値| 80.21
総文字数| 26551
新語件数 | 1326
新語率(%) | 4.99
新語重複率| 2.54
5回以上重複新語件数| 71
2回以上重複新語件数| 258
[内容概要]
The story is set in the 1840s in Italy, when Italy was under Austrian rule. Arthur Burton is attracted by the ideals of Young Italy, so he joins it and devotes himself to the freedom of Italy. Arthur respects Mr. Montanelli, Father Director, and Mr. Montanelli is worried when he learns what Arthur is doing and tries to stop him. At one secret meeting, Arthur meets Gemma, his old playmate and falls in love with him.
Montanelli becomes the Bishop in Rome. After he leaves for Rome, Cardi arrives as the new Director and becomes Arthur’s confessor. Arthur is tricked by Father Cardi and tells him of what he and his comrades are doing. As a result, he and several of his comrades are arrested. When Arthur comes out of prison, Gemma is angry and strikes him across the cheek.
Arthur also discovers an important secret of the Bishop Montanelli. He becomes so sad that he goes to South America. There, he suffers great hardships for 13 years. When he returns to Italy, he becomes a journalist, publishing radical ideas under the name “the Gadfly”….
This book is rewritten from “The Gadfly” by the Irish writer E. L. Voynich (1864-1960), published in 1897.