Kino quickly pushed his knife into the shell. The shell tried to close, but Kino pushed hard and the shell fell open. The flesh of the oyster moved, then was still. Kino lifted the flesh and there lay a great pearl. The sunlight fell on the pearl and made it shine like silver. It was the largest pearl in the world. Kino and Juana are poor, their difficulties are made worse when their baby son is bitten by a scorpion. When Kino finds a large pearl, they believe their pryers have been answered and that they will be able to buy medicinal help. But the pearl brings only greed and violence… Special features include: Extra grammar and vocabulary exercises Notes about the story Points for Understanding comprehension questions Free resources including worksheets, tests and author data sheets at www.macmillanenglish.com/readers