C2 · PROFICIENCY Reading practice · ~3,200 words · 16-min read This is an original story for proficient readers. It is written in near-native English, with idiom, irony, and shifts of register — the narrator’s polished magazine prose sits alongside the blunt speech of the people she meets. Ten less common words are glossed below;…
Quick Answer To guess about the past, English uses a modal + have + past participle. Must have = I am sure it happened. Can’t have = I am sure it did not. Might have = maybe. And the pair that catches everyone: needn’t have gone means you went and it was unnecessary — didn’t…
C2 · PROFICIENCY Reading practice · ~3,200 words · 16-min read This is an original short story for proficiency-level readers. The language is unrestrained — literary narration, colloquial dialogue, formal letters, and a fair amount of idiom. Ten expressions that do particular work in the story are glossed below; each one reappears at least twice,…
Quick Answer Discourse markers are the signposts of an argument. Moreover adds. Nonetheless concedes. Conversely flips. Hence concludes. Choosing the one that names the actual turn your argument makes is what gives formal writing its shape — and choosing the wrong one is immediately obvious to a reader. See the Pattern First Same two facts,…
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,…
§ flout /FLOWT/ Listen To break or ignore a rule, law, or custom openly and deliberately. Quick Answer Flout means to break a rule openly. You flout the law, the rules, or convention. Think: to flout is to defy on purpose. Example: They openly flout the parking rules. Flout in 3 Sentences Read these three…
flaunt /FLAWNT/ Listen To show something off proudly, to get attention or admiration. Quick Answer Flaunt means to show off. You flaunt your wealth, your talent, or your new car. Think: to flaunt is to display with pride. Example: She loves to flaunt her designer clothes. Flaunt in 3 Sentences Read these three sentences. Notice…
Quick Answer Passive reporting structures let you report what people say or think without naming them. There are two patterns, both formal and impersonal. People say he is rich. → It is said that he is rich. · He is said to be rich. See the Two Patterns Start from a normal sentence like “People…
Quick Answer Nominalisation means turning a verb or adjective into a noun. It makes writing sound more formal and academic, and packs more information into fewer words. Verb: They decided quickly. → Noun: Their quick decision… Verb: Prices rose sharply. → Noun: There was a sharp rise in prices. See the Pattern — Verbs and…
Quick Answer In formal English, you can drop “if” and invert the subject and verb to make a conditional sound more elegant. Three verbs allow this: Had, Were, and Should. If I had known → Had I known. · If it were not for you → Were it not for you. · If you should…
