B1 · INTERMEDIATE Reading practice · ~3,000 words · 20-min read This is the life story of Elena Voss — a fisherman’s daughter who changed the way people see her island. She is not a real person, but her story could be true. First, study the ten key words. Then read the six short chapters….
A2 · ELEMENTARY Reading practice · ~1,600 words · 11-min read This is an original story for A2 learners. It uses the past simple and easy connectors like because, so, and then. First, read the nine key words. Then read the story. At the end, there is a quiz to check what you understand. Before…
C2 · MASTERY Reading practice · ~3,170 words · 22-min read This is an original short story for advanced learners at C2 level. It is a quiet piece of science fiction that isn’t really fiction — a field scientist in a remote Scottish valley notices that the local bats are calling at the wrong pitch,…
C1 · ADVANCED Reading practice · ~3,950 words · 26-min read This is an original short biography for advanced learners. It tells the invented life of Inês Barroca, a Portuguese cartographer who devoted her career to hand-drawing the villages of her country in the years before they were flooded to make way for hydroelectric reservoirs….
B2 · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE Reading practice · ~3,250 words · 22-min read This is an original short story for upper-intermediate learners. It is a quiet mystery about a bookshop, an old man, and a stranger who has been leaving glass bottles on his doorstep for two years. Read the eight key words first. Then read the…
B1 · INTERMEDIATE Reading practice · ~3,000 words · 15-min read This is a B1 reading story. The English is at intermediate level, so you will meet perfect tenses, relative clauses, and a few new words. Learn the nine key words below first. Then read the story. At the end, there is a short quiz…
A2 · ELEMENTARY Reading practice · ~1,800 words · 12-min read This is a short mystery story for elementary learners. The story uses simple past tense and short sentences. 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…
A1 · BEGINNER Reading practice · ~1,200 words · 8-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 café —…
empathy /EM-puh-thee/ Listen The ability to imagine and share another person’s feelings, as if they were your own. Quick Answer Empathy means feeling WITH someone — you imagine yourself in their place and share the feeling. “Good nurses have great empathy with their patients.” Example: Her empathy helped her understand exactly how I felt. Empathy…
sympathy /SIM-puh-thee/ Listen The feeling of being sorry for someone who is in a bad situation. You care about their pain from the outside. Quick Answer Sympathy means feeling sorry FOR someone. You see their pain from the outside and you care. “We sent flowers to show our sympathy.” Example: Everyone expressed their sympathy after…
