The Country of the Blind:《盲人国》

The Country of the Blind:《盲人国》 by H.G. Wells is a graded reader designed for high-elementary learners of Chinese.

Publisher's description:

“In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king” repeats in Chen Fangyuan’s mind after he finds himself trapped in a valley holding a community of people for whom a disease eliminated their vision many generations before and no longer have a concept of sight. Chen Fangyuan quickly finds that these people have developed their other senses to compensate for their lack of sight. His insistence that he can see causes the entire community to believe he is crazy. With no way out, Chen Fangyuan begins to accept his fate until one day the village doctors believe they now understand what is the cause of his insanity… those useless round objects in his eye sockets.

Chapter 1

• Expressing location with "zai...shang/xia/li"
• Expressing existence with "you"
• Measure words for counting
• Modifying nouns with adjective + "de"
• Expressing experiences with "guo"
• Two words for "but"
• "Never" with "conglai"
• Explaining results with "suoyi"
• Special verbs with "hen"
• "Would like to" with "xiang"
• Measure words to differentiate
• "If…, then…" with "ruguo…, jiu…"
• Wanting to do something with "yao"
• Using "ji" to mean "several"
• Reduplication of adjectives
• Sequencing past events with "houlai"
• "Some" using "yixie"
• Expressing "and" with "he"
• Referring to "all" using "suoyou"
• Expressing duration with "le"
• To go to a place
• Expressing completion with "le"
• After a specific time
• Expressing earliness with "jiu"
• "All along" with "yizhi"
• "Zai" following verbs
• Emphasizing quantity with "dou"
• Measure words for verbs
• Separable verb
• Modifying nouns with phrase + "de"
• Change of state with "le"
• Before a specific time
• Direction complement
• Potential complement
• "Just" with "gang"
• The "zui" superlative
• Continuation with "hai"
• Expressing actions in progress
• Turning adjectives into adverbs

Chapter 2

• Pronoun "mei" for "every"
• Expressing "every" with "mei" and "dou"
• Actions in a row
• "-wan" result complement
• Expressing "more and more" with "yue… yue…"
• Expressing "all" with "shenme dou"
• Cause and effect with "yinwei" and "suoyi"
• "From… to…" with "cong… dao…"
• "Already" with "yijing"
• Auxiliary verb "hui" for "will"
• Adjectives with "name" and "zheme"

Chapter 3

• At the time when
• Emphasis with "jiu"
• Expressing purpose with "weile"
• Expressing "otherwise" with "yaobu"
• Negative commands with "bie"
• Again in the future with "zai"
• Using "dui"
• "Already" with "dou…le"
• Verb reduplication with "yi"
• Basic comparisons with "bi"
• Expressing "and also" with "hai"
• Aspect particle "zhe"
• Expressing "a little too" with "you dian"
• Suggestions with "ba"
• Expressing lateness with "cai"
• Uses of "shi... de"
• Questions with "le ma"
• Again in the past with "you"
• Descriptive complements
• Expressing "excessively" with "tai"
• Negative commands with "bu yao"

Chapter 4

• Expressing duration of inaction
• Ordinal numbers with "di"
• "Not at all"
• Softening the tone of questions with "ne"
• "It seems" with "haoxiang"
• Appearance with "kanqilai"
• Simultaneous tasks with "yibian"
• Expressing "in addition" with "haiyou"

Chapter 5

• Resultative complement "zhu"
• Inability with "mei banfa"
• "Yinggai" for should
• Expressing "otherwise" with "yaobu"
• "Always" with "zongshi"
• The "-bu dong" (don't understand) potential complement

Chapter 6

• "Some" with "youde"
• "Both A and B" with "you"
• Expressing permission
• "Before" in general
• Softening speech with "ba"
• Expressing "with" with "gen"
• Expressing a learned skill
• About to happen with "kuai... le"

Chapter 7

• Basic comparisons with "yiyang"
• Expressing "together" with "yiqi"
• Indicating a number in excess
• Result complement

Chapter 8

• Mistakenly think that
• "Not very" with "bu tai"

Chapter 9

• "Not often" with "bu zenme"

Chapter 10

• Questions with "ne"
• Doing something more with "duo"
• "Only if" with "zhiyou"