抄録
The present paper is intended as a useful guide to Compass Classic Readers, the complete set of 60 books with MP3 CDs, which are divided into 6 levels from 400 to 1500 headwords. Compared with other major publishing companies' counterparts, the Compass books may look inferior due to their cheap- looking cover designs. Some of the attached CDs are also badly made with narrators' poor performances and mismatched music. Of course, there are good points that can cover these defects: the MP3 CDs include "Playlet" where each title is partly or wholly made into a short play probably in order to accustom the learners to English conversations; on the whole Compass Classic Readers are nicely selected and properly retold almost always true to the originals. It might be surprising that foreign learners of English with their limited vocabularies can gain easy access to wonderful masterpieces such as Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies like A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Othello, Macbeth, and so forth. It is true that most of the Compass classics are so famous that they are available in other publishers' versions, and Japanese people can read them in full-length translation from the originals; yet it is certain that Compass Classic Readers are one of the easiest ways to catch a glimpse of world classics, especially those by British and American authors. It is strongly recommended that Compass Classic Readers should be read as an ideal introduction to get acquainted with great novels and plays that Western civilization has ever produced.
