B2 · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE Reading practice · ~3,100 words · 16-min read This is an original story for upper-intermediate readers. Somebody in a block of flats is leaving polite, anonymous notices — and nobody knows who. First, read the ten key words below. Then enjoy the story. At the end, there are questions to check your…
B1 · INTERMEDIATE Reading practice · ~3,000 words · 15-min read This is an original story for intermediate (B1) learners. It is about a young woman, a small English town, and a festival that is 150 years old. First, read the ten key words. Then read the story — it is in five short chapters….
A2 · ELEMENTARY Reading practice · ~1,700 words · 11-min read This is an original story for elementary learners. It uses the past simple tense and easy, everyday words. First, read the ten key words. Then read the story. At the end, there is a small quiz to check what you understand. Before you read…
A1 · BEGINNER Reading practice · ~1,300 words · 9-min read This is a short, easy story for beginners. The sentences are simple. First, read the eight key words. Then read the story. At the end, there is a small quiz to check what you understand. Before you read — 8 key words balcony —…
Quick Answer The third conditional imagines a different past. The shape is If + had + past participle, then would have + past participle: If I had studied, I would have passed. It always describes something that did NOT happen — which is why it is the grammar of regret. See the Pattern First Read…
Quick Answer To report what someone said, move the verb one step back in time and change the words that point at people and time. “I am tired,” she said becomes She said she was tired. No quotation marks, and usually no that needed. See the Pattern First On the left is what the person…
Quick Answer The past perfect is had + the -ed/-en form of the verb: I had finished. You use it when you are already talking about the past and you need to point at something even earlier. When I arrived, the train had left. Two past events — the past perfect marks the first one….
C1 · ADVANCED Reading practice · ~3,100 words · 16-min read This is an original story for advanced learners. The language is rich but controlled: before you start, skim the ten key words below — each one appears at least twice in the story, so you will meet it again in context. At the end,…
Quick Answer A few English verbs follow no pattern whatsoever: go → went → gone; do → did → done. They must be memorised one by one — but there are only about a dozen, and you use them every day. See the Pattern First Look for a pattern here. There is not one —…
Quick Answer These verbs do not add -ed. They add a hard -t instead, and usually shorten the vowel: sleep → slept, build → built. The past and the have form are the same. See the Pattern First Say each pair aloud — the vowel gets shorter and the ending gets harder. I sleep late….
