diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/named_scope.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/named_scope.rb
index 83043c2..630e080 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/named_scope.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/named_scope.rb
@@ -97,7 +97,28 @@ module ActiveRecord
           end
         end
       end
+
+      #  Use this method to create a named \scope that will only return one object rather than a proxy association.
+      #  Singular named \scopes are the same as chaining <tt>.first</tt> to a named \scope.
+      #
+      #   class Book
+      #     singular_named_scope :last_read, :order => "last_read DESC", :limit => 1
+      #   end
+      #
+      def singular_named_scope(name, options = {}, &block)
+        named_scope(name, options, &block)
+        
+        (class << self; self end).instance_eval do 
+          define_method "#{name}_with_first" do
+            instance_eval("#{name}_without_first").first
+          end
+          alias_method_chain name, :first
+        end
+      end
+      
     end
+
+    
     
     class Scope
       attr_reader :proxy_scope, :proxy_options
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/named_scope_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/named_scope_test.rb
index 64e8997..e9577ae 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/named_scope_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/named_scope_test.rb
@@ -277,4 +277,10 @@ class NamedScopeTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
     post = Post.find(1)
     assert_equal post.comments.size, Post.scoped(:joins => join).scoped(:joins => join, :conditions => "posts.id = #{post.id}").size
   end
+  
+  def test_first_argument_should_return_object_not_array
+    last_read_topic = Topic.first :order => "last_read DESC"
+    assert_equal last_read_topic, Topic.last_read
+  end
+  
 end
diff --git a/activerecord/test/models/topic.rb b/activerecord/test/models/topic.rb
index 39ca1bf..f866bfc 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/models/topic.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/models/topic.rb
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ class Topic < ActiveRecord::Base
   end
   named_scope :named_extension, :extend => NamedExtension
   named_scope :multiple_extensions, :extend => [MultipleExtensionTwo, MultipleExtensionOne]
+  singular_named_scope :last_read, :order => "last_read DESC", :limit => 1  
 
   has_many :replies, :dependent => :destroy, :foreign_key => "parent_id"
   serialize :content