Le Vol de La Joconde

Book excerpt: [The book] is a reader designed for students who have completed a first-level course in French. It provides an interesting and original mystery story in simple yet natural and idiomatic French. The setting of the story is the Louvre Museum in Paris, and the plot revolves around its most famous work of art, the Mona Lisa ... [The text] uses conversational indicative tenses ... The exercises, which are based directly on the text, provide functional practice in all language skills: reading comprehension, vocabulary recognition and retention, conversation, structural practice, oral and written composition, and individualized cultural assignments ... To enliven the students' work, the author has included crossword puzzles and other word games in each chapter. Dialog exercises serve as springboards for communicative practice through role playing.-Pref.