Table Of ContentGraded
German Reader
Erste Stufe
ThirdEdition
Hannelore Crossgrove
William C. Crossgrove
L
Graded
German Reader
'^^r
i
Graded
German Reader
Erste Stufe
THIRD EDITION
Hannelore Crossgrove
University of Rhode Island
William C. Crossgrove
Brown University
D. C. Heath and Company
Lexington, Massachusetts Toronto
Address editorial correspondence to:
D. C. Heath
125 Spring Street
Lexington, MA 02173
Cover: Women on the Street, Murnau, 1908 by Wassily Kandinsky.
Private collection, New York.
Text acknowledgment: „Ohne Gepäck" from WAS WOLLENSIE VON
MIR und 15 andere Geschichten. Copyright © 1989 by Diogenes Verlag,
AG, Zürich. All rights reserved.
Graded German Reader, Erste Stufe, is based on Peter Hagboldt's original
reader, first published in 1933.
Copyright e1992 by D. C. Heath and Company.
Previous editions Copyright ®1978, 1957 by D. C. Heath and Company
All rights reserved. No part ofthis publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, in-
cluding photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval
System, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
Printed in the United States ofAmerica.
International Standard Book Number: 0-669-20159-6
Library ofCongress Catalog Number: 90-84882
9876543
10
a
Preface
Graded German Reader: Erste Stufe, Third Edition is an ele-
mentar) reader designed to build students' speaking and reading
skills beginning in the first semester of an introductory College
German course orin the firstyearofa high schoolcourse. Divided
into six parts, it contains easily accessible narratives, fables, anec-
dotes, and stories that students can begin to read and discuss
almost immediately. The reading selections in Parts One through
Five were vvritten or edited specifically for this text; they are de-
—
signed to present students with material that even in the early
—
weeks leadstostudent-teacherandeventuallytostudent-student
interchange. Authentic material is presented in Part Six, which
contains an unedited modern German short story. The Third
Edition of the Graded German Reader follows the same vocab-
ulary-building principles as the previous editions; neu words are
systematicallyintroducedineach part,leadingtoatotalvocabulary
of 915 high-frequency words and 116 idiomatic expressions. Ex-
ercises following each text or group oftexts checkcomprehension
and usually offer vocabulary-building techniques as well.
New to the Third Edition
The Third Edition has been thoroughly revised but retains the
basic structure of the earlier editions. Parts Two through Five
havebeenshortened; theexerciseshavebeenrewrittenand placed
closer to the texts to which they apply; and about ten percent of
the vocabulary has been replaced to accommodate changes in
—
usage. A new contemporary text has been added as Part Six
complete, unedited story by Doris Dörrie.
vi Graded German Reader
Organization and Use of the Reader
Reading Selections. Part One, Allerlei, contains simple readings
crafted to reinforce the acquisition ofbasic vocabulary. Beginning
with cognates and contrasts, it includes basic topics such as days,
seasons, and numbers, concluding with more personal subjects
such as home, family, school, and office. The Fabeln ofPart Two
are fables that students find particularly enjoyable because they
recognize many of them. Part Three, Anekdoten und Erzählungen,
consists ofanecdotes based on folklore, famous historical figures,
or humorous situations, usually concludingwith a twistor "punch
line."EulenspiegelundMünchhausen (Part Four) introduces legends
and tall tales about two figures from German populär literature,
while Part Five (Märchen) contains four well-known fairy tales. By
the time students have reached Part Six, their mastery oforal and
writtenGermanwillbe sufficienttoallowthem toreadanddiscuss
Doris Dörrie's Ohne Gepäck, a story dealing with contemporary
themes.
Vocabulary. The vocabulary of the Graded German Reader is
carefully controlled to ensure the gradual introduction of unfa-
miliar words and idioms. Part One introduces 500 words and 30
idiomaticexpressions,another 145wordsand30idiomaticexpres-
sions are added in Part Two, 105 words and 15 expressions in
Part Three, 80 words and 15 expressions in Part Four, 45 words
and 10 expressions in Part Five, and 40 words and 16 expressions
—
in Part Six a total of 915 words and 116 idiomatic expressions.
The latter are defined as expressions whose meanings are not
easily ascertainable from word-for-word English equivalents.
Items not included in the word count are: definite articles, per-
sonal pronouns, possessive adjectives, personal names, place
names identical, or nearly so, in English and German, and seif-
evident Compounds. Nouns and verbs with the same stem are
counted separately only ifthere is a vowel change in the noun or
iftheir meanings are not obviously related. The footnotes ofPart
Six also contain about 100 words that occur only once in the text.
These are marked with asterisks and are not included in the list
of new words to be learned. They are, however, included in the
Vocabulary at the end of the book.
Preface vii
At the end of each part are a list of idiomatic expressions and
a two-part vocabulary list. The idiomatic expressions are listed in
the sequence in which they occurin the text. In the Third Edition,
English equivalents and reference numbers for locating the first
occurrence in the text have been added.
The vocabulary list includes all new vocabulary, in two cate-
gories. List A gives all cognates sufficiently close to English to
enable the Student either to recognize the word at once or to
remember it easily once it is identified; List B gives all the words
that have to be learned without the aid of obvious associations
with English. More than one-third of the vocabulary in Part One
consists ofeasily recognizable cognates. Thus the learning ofthe
first 500 words should be much simpler than would first appear.
Students should learn the idiomatic expressions and be pre-
pared to use them in sentences oftheir own. They should also be
encouraged to formulate sentences using the words in the vocab-
ulary lists rather than merely to give English equivalents to in-
dividualwords. Inthisway,thelistscanfacilitatevocabularyreview
for each part.
Exercises. In each part, exercises follow each section or small
group of sections. Each set of exercises begins with yes-no ques-
tions; information questions introduced by questions words such
as wer, was, wo, wie, wann, and warum; or true-false Statements.
Evenwhen simpleanswersare possible, studentscan use theques-
tions for further practice by providing missing information to
Supplement a "no" answer, by correcting false Statements, or by
asking questions for which the Statements could be answers. In
most cases, an additional exercise offers practice in vocabulary
building, drawsattention toculturaldifferences, orsuggeststopics
for further discussion.
Grammar. Parts One and Two are written almost entirely in the
present tense, while the simple past is introduced in Part Three.
Passive and subjunctive verbs are used only rarely and are foot-
noted unless the meanings are obvious. In Parts One and Two,
sentencesconsistprincipallyofmainclauses,andonlysomesimple
types of dependent clauses occur. More complex structures are
gradually introduced in Part Three, but relative clauses remain a
rare occurrence throughout the book.
viii Graded German Reader
End Matter. The Graded German Reader concludes with (1) a
Verb Appendix, listing the principal parts of all irregulär verbs
used in the book; (2) a German-English vocabulary (with Infor-
mation on principal parts of irregulär verbs, genders and plural
endingsofnouns, andirregulärgenitive singularendingsformas-
culine nouns); and (3) an index ofvocabulary building exercises.
One of the current trends in foreign language textbooks is the
complete use of "authentic" materials, materials that are written
for the native Speaker. In this sense, our book does not pretend
to be authentic, except for the new final section. It is important
in beginning courses for students to have texts they can readily
understand and discuss. We have yettoencounterstudents whose
ability to adapt quickly to slang, currentJargon, and everyday life
when exposed to it depends on their having used authentic ma-
terials in the classroom. Graded readers succeed because students
and teachers find them helpful. We hope that the new edition will
serve them as well as the Second Edition and Peter Hagboldt's
original have in the past.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We want to express thanks to Werner Hoffmeister ofDartmouth
College forhisencouragementand suggestions, to Denise St.Jean
and Gina Russo of D. C. Heath and Company for giving us a
schedule and moving the project along, to Rosemary R.Jaffe for
leading us through the thicket of typesetting details, and above
alltooureditor,JoanSchoellner,forhertirelesseffortstoimprove
the book.
We would also like to thank the following colleagues who re-
viewed the manuscript during its various stages ofdevelopment:
Thomas Baldwin, Western Kentucky University; John Burke,
Fitchburg State College; Giles Hoyt, Indiana University, Indian-
apolis; WilliamJackson, University ofVirginia; and Gertraud Ro-
senbladt, Foothill College.
Hannelore Crossgrove
William Crossgrove
