Read · Listen · Learn
2016-10-04
We've added new audio recordings to a number of titles in the last couple of weeks, here they are...
‘Banjo’ Paterson wrote many stories about animals and life in the wild in Australia, but there are not many which are as funny as this one about sheep. Here, he tells us why he hates sheep and he makes us laugh too.
By the age of twenty, Phil Spector was one of the most famous and richest musicians in America. He produced records for some of the best pop groups of his time. But Spector’s childhood and his controlling personality made him a very dangerous man. And then he killed a girl…
We usually think of the computer as a very modern invention: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, maybe Alan Turing. However, this article takes us back two hundred years to the birth of the first calculating machine and tells the story of two very different people, Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace and the necessary parts they played in making the first computing machine
People have used camels in war and they have drunk their milk and eaten their meat. We race them and pay huge sums of money for the most beautiful and fastest animals. We have explored unknown lands with them and exported them to foreign countries. Read about our very special relationship with this extraordinary animal
The mule is not a natural animal: it is a cross-breed between a donkey and a horse. It is useful to humankind though because it has the speed of one animal and the strength of the other. It is more intelligent than either of its parents, very loyal and extremely brave. Read about the remarkable history of this animal and its relationship to people
English stories and articles for reading and listening practise
For students, learners and teachers. Improve reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. Learn new words and build fluency.