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OC006 - the Great Wall of China - English vocabulary exercise.

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B2 Reading Test

Read an article about people who are addicted to trading cryptocurrency, and for questions 1 to 6, choose the correct answer.

Crypto addicts

Cryptocurrency trading has become very popular. By buying and selling different currencies, traders can make huge profits. However, trading addiction is becoming increasingly common. Here, addict Josh Johnson talks about his experience.

'I heard about cryptocurrencies years ago when Bitcoin first came out, but I can't say I was intrigued from the start. Even when cryptocurrencies were mentioned more and more in the news and on social media, I didn't pay much attention. It wasn't until my friends started trading that I got into it. Seeing them earning loads of money overnight by doing practically nothing made me want to get in on it too. I'd been trading for a while by the time the pandemic started, but that was when the trouble started.

'It was crazy to begin with. My first investment quadrupled within a couple of weeks. I couldn't believe it. It gave me a feeling of power, and I felt as if I could achieve anything. I poured more money in, and the same thing kept happening. Of course, it was all chance. I happened to put my money in before the currencies hit an all-time high. Then they plummeted. I was convinced they'd recover, so I kept pumping more money in. But what had worked before no longer did. I lost everything.

'Since getting help, I've thought about how I got addicted. There was a point when I had over three hundred thousand pounds. If I'd quit then, I could have bought the house that I had my heart set on. But rather than the money itself, it was the drama that hooked me. And winning didn't give me as big a thrill as losing. You would think I'd feel devastated when money disappeared, but instead, I'd feel a new sense of purpose and drive to prove myself once again.

'Lots of people enjoy these highs and lows of trading without becoming addicts, so it's hard to know when you've gone too far. Like with many addictions, crypto addicts become isolated and withdrawn and neglect their work. But I was off work and living by myself, so if those signs were there, they weren't noticeable. For me, I missed the high when money ran out and I couldn't trade, so I found it through drugs, and my sister found out. I'd been addicted to them in the past, and it got to the point of me lying and stealing from others. She didn't want that to happen again, and she stepped in.

'There's a worrying, rising trend in cryptocurrency trading addiction. It's not surprising really, given the irresponsible advertising techniques which companies have used. I'm glad authorities are cracking down on those. But it concerns me that the apps send you notifications when you make money, inviting you to share your good news with others. But when you lose, you get nothing. It gives you a false sense that you are doing well. I think there should be rules that don't allow that.

'Compared to traditional gambling, cryptocurrency trading is seen as socially acceptable. It's something that smart but adventurous people do. And whereas a lot of gamblers play alone or against other people, trading is social. But this leads to a herd mentality, where people stop thinking things through for themselves. The companies make lots of information available to educate people about the risks of trading. It's far easier, though, to act on a friend's tip-off or hunch. All this means that people don't realise that they are on a slippery slope until it's gone too far.

Take the reading test

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Crypto addicts - B2 Reading test - Test-English

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Read an article about people who are addicted to trading cryptocurrency, and for questions 1 to 6, choose the correct answer. Crypto addicts Cryptocurrency trading has become very popular. By buying and selling different currencies, traders can make huge profits. However, trading addiction is becoming increasingly common.

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Talking about movies – B2 English Vocabulary - Test-English

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Expand your B2 English vocabulary with our lesson on Movies! Enjoy pictures, definitions, examples, exercises with feedback, and a fun game.

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Idiomatic infinitive phrases – C1 English Vocabulary - Page 3 of 4 - Test-English

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Boost your C1-Advanced Vocabulary with 18 idiomatic infinitive phrases. Practise with 3 interactive exercises and a fun matching game!

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Created with Hot Potatoes by Half-Baked Software, registered to Klaus Rosmanitz.

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Created with Hot Potatoes by Half-Baked Software, registered to Klaus Rosmanitz.

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WF067 - Word Formation Sentences - English Vocabulary Exercises

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The Maestro and the Patron (C2, English) - Fabulang

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A story for learners of English. Improve your language skills by reading short stories at your level, for free.

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Forgetting Myself (C1, English) - Fabulang

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A story for learners of English. Improve your language skills by reading short stories at your level, for free.

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Learn English by reading English short stories. You can also use the vocabulary in Chinese, Indian, Russian, Spanish on this website

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B2 Reading Test

Read an article about teenage millionaires, and for questions 1 to 10, match the information to the young entrepreneur.

Teenage Social Media Millionaires

Many kids dream of becoming millionaires before they're twenty, but few realise their dreams. Some do, however. Harnessing new technology, their ideas become thriving multi-million-dollar businesses that inspire others. Let's see how some of them did it.

Dominic McVey

Dominic became a millionaire at the age of 13 due to a simple misspelling. He had been searching on the internet for information about Visa credit cards but mistakenly spelt it Viza. This took him to the website of an American company that sold scooters. Dominic had always wanted a scooter but couldn't afford one. So he contacted the site and offered to sell their scooters in the UK. The company gave him a deal: if he could sell five scooters, he would get one free. He scraped the money together, ordered the five scooters and sold them easily. After that, demand for scooters went up, and before long, he was selling thousands per week. He was later honoured by the queen as a young entrepreneur.

Maddie Bradshaw

10-year old Maddie wanted to decorate her school locker but couldn't find exactly what she wanted in the stores. So instead, she came up with her own idea. She had recently been given 50 bottle caps by her uncle, who had an old Coke machine that didn't work. She decorated these, added magnets to the back, and soon the handy, attractive magnets on her locker were attracting attention from all over the school. Her ideas didn't stop there, though. With help from her mother and a few hundred dollars' investment, she converted her bottle-cap idea into jewellery. At the age of 12, she created 'Snap-cap' necklaces with exchangeable magnetic pendants and add-ons, allowing girls to make custom designs that reflected their personalities. She made her first million when she was 13.

Nick D'Aloisio

15-year-old Nick was struggling with the amount of news on the internet. Despite his intention to keep up-to-date with current affairs, there just seemed no end to the stream of information. So he came up with 'Trimit', an app that compressed news articles into short summaries. Trimit was pretty basic, and summaries were mostly gibberish. However, the app attracted the attention of a Hong Kong investment company, which gave Nick $300,000 to develop his idea. He improved the app and re-launched it under the name 'Summly'. This version was very successful and later sold to Yahoo! for 30 million dollars. Now Nick runs a team of programmers who work on algorithms and language processing intricacies while he focuses on design.

Sean Belnick

As a young teenager, Sean made money by selling Pokemon cards and mowing lawns. But he also had an eye for business and paid curious attention to his stepfather's work as a manufacturer's representative for office furniture. He noticed that customers generally had no need for face to face contact with suppliers, so he invested $500, learned HTML programming and created a website from which he sold mid-price office chairs. He sourced these directly from the manufacturer and stored them in his bedroom. His timing was perfect, as his business launched when companies were looking to cut costs. Sean, a millionaire by the age of 16, continues to work with his stepfather in a partnership that brings together experience gained over time and youthful, fresh ideas. Their company has won an award for its efforts to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

Take the reading test

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Teenage Social Media Millionaires - B2 English reading test - Test-English

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English reading test for upper-intermediate students (CEFR B2). You can use this reading practice test to prepare for Cambridge B2 First, IELTS (5.5 - 6), TOEIC (785 - 940) or TOEFL iBT (72 - 94)

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Kidfluencers: Growing up online – C1 English Reading Test - Test-English

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Explore the risks of kidfluencers and growing up online in this C1 Reading Comprehension Test. Get instant feedback for every answer!

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Created with Hot Potatoes by Half-Baked Software, registered to Klaus Rosmanitz.

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Definite and Indefinite Article 3 - English Grammar Exercises

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Choose the correct option : A, AN or THE or leave blank for no article

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Definite and Indefinite Articles - ART002 - English Grammar Exercises

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Choose the correct definite article or leave blank .

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© by owner. provided at no charge for educational purposes

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The Story of Little Suck-a-Thumb by Heinrich Hoffmann - Famous poems, famous poets. - All Poetry

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Comments & analysis: One day Mamma said Conrad dear, I must go out and leave you here. But mind now, Conrad, w

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Created with Hot Potatoes by Half-Baked Software, registered to Klaus Rosmanitz.

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Created with Hot Potatoes by Half-Baked Software, registered to Klaus Rosmanitz.

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Created with Hot Potatoes by Half-Baked Software, registered to Klaus Rosmanitz.

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Time Travel - Word Bank Cloze - English Grammar Exercises

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Complete the text with the words from the box on the right. There are THREE words you will not need!

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Advanced Reading | New Fact Checking Website Arrives

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Advanced reading exercise to improve your English reading. Title: New Fact Checking Website Arrives.

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This salmon lasagna with creamed spinach has a rich white sauce flavored with mozzarella and ricotta cheese for a delicious salmon pasta dish.

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Quick and easy Salmon Lasagne recipe with Spinach using creme fraiche. Minimal effort and great taste. Can be prepared in advance.

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Two people fall in love. But is their experience real? Or is it just a side effect of the medicine they're taking?

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A walk gone wrong – C1 English Reading Test - Test-English

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Challenge your advanced reading skills with this C1 English reading comprehension test. Get instant feedback and detailed answers!

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Sergeant Frank Spike sat behind his desk and stared out of the window. Outside, a steady stream of traffic passed by, each car moving slowly in the cold, grey rain.

Frank looked down at the grey hairs on his arms, and his round stomach, which pushed against the desk. This was his final month before he retired from the police, and, for Frank, retirement couldn't come soon enough.

Frank frowned as he considered the terrible retirement package he had been given. It was barely enough money to take a short holiday on the cold and rainy east coast of England where he lived. There was no way he could afford the round-the-world, luxury cruise he had always dreamed of.

Just as Frank was sighing heavily, Inspector Spencer came up to his desk, with his perfect white teeth and enthusiastic smile. Three years earlier, Spencer had been promoted. Now he had the position of inspector at the young age of forty. Frank, in comparison, had worked for the police for forty years and been passed over for promotion three times. It was true he had neither the looks nor charm of Spencer - sorry, Inspector Spencer - but the younger man didn't have Frank's 'nose for crime'. That nose meant Frank could get inside the mind of the criminal and solve the trickiest of cases. As a result, the younger man often asked for Frank's help. In fact, it was pretty much the only time Spencer spoke to him.

'Hey, Frank, do you mind if I ask your advice about something?'

Unsurprised, Frank nodded.

'Have you heard of the Babbingtons?'

Everyone had heard of the Babbingtons. Ronald Babbington was the millionaire owner of Babbington Oil, and his wife Tabitha was a model. Together they enjoyed nothing more than showing off how rich they were. They often appeared in magazines like Hello!, with their gorgeous house and collection of sports cars. Most recently, they had invited the press to take photographs of the enormous diamond Ronald had bought for his bride. Under the protection of a sophisticated alarm system, the diamond sat in a large gold and glass case. The case stood at the end of a long, red carpet.

Spencer paused for dramatic effect, then explained.

'We've had some secret information about a plan to steal the Babbington diamond!'

Frank raised his eyebrows in an attempt to look suitably impressed.

'Peggy, the owner of the Dog and Duck pub, heard a couple of local criminals talking about it. She's asked that we keep her identity secret of course. But our officers have made some discreet inquiries that seem to confirm what Peggy says.'

Frank nodded again and waited for the inevitable question.

'So?' Spencer asked. 'What do you think is the best thing to do? After all, it's only a rumour. We've got nothing concrete to arrest them on.'

Frank looked thoughtfully out of the window. He remembered his retirement money. He didn't want to be alone in his retirement, but the money wouldn't even be enough to buy a cat to keep him company.

The sound of a car horn brought him back to the case. He put his fingers together under his chin to look as if he was thinking deeply. Which he was, but not quite in the direction Inspector Spencer expected.

'Listen, do this the clever way,' said Frank, leaning towards the younger officer. 'What you need to do is let them commit the crime. If you catch them red-handed, you've got all the evidence you need, no problem.'

'But, Frank,' said Spencer, 'we'd need the approval of the Babbington family. And there are laws about tricking criminals like that, you know!'

'That's why you let them commit the crime. Then, apparently by chance, stop them for speeding as they escape the crime scene. You search the car to find the diamond, and you've caught them red-handed! Plus, the owner of the pub is protected, and you have all the evidence you need.'

'Hmmmm. OK.' Spencer was uncomfortable with the methods Frank was suggesting. But he couldn't deny the plan would work.

Frank continued, 'Of course, you need to ensure the arresting officer is someone you know is reliable.'

Spencer understood immediately.

'Are you sure you want to do it, Frank? It could be dangerous.'

'I'll make sure I'm with a couple of tough young officers, but, yes, of course I want to do it.'

'Why?' asked Spencer. 'You're just about to retire! Don't you want to take it easy?'

'That's exactly why I want to do it,' Frank replied. 'My last case will be my final chance for glory!'

*****

A few days later, Frank went into the Dog and Duck pub after work.

'Did you get it?' he asked Peggy as she handed him his drink.

'Yes. I am now the proud owner of a perfect replica Babbington diamond,' she said. 'I told the glassmaker I was a huge fan of the Babbingtons and that my mean boyfriend wouldn't buy me a diamond of my own.'

'You need a new boyfriend,' said Frank. 'If I were your boyfriend, I'd buy you a diamond ring and take you on a long luxury cruise if I had the chance.'

'Oh, really?' she said and smiled.

*****

Frank was sitting in the back seat of the police car, which was hidden on the road through the woods to the Babbington mansion. In the front seats were two young officers who were strong and reliable.

At 23.30, a message had come in on the police radio. The burglars had met outside the Dog and Duck pub. At 23.37, the young man started the car and left the pub. In the passenger seat was a tall, athletic woman.

At midnight, the pair passed the hidden police car on their way to the mansion. At 00.13, the woman threw heavy ropes over one of the mansion's garden walls. A second hidden police team watched her climb over, while the man waited in the car.

At 00.20, the woman reappeared at the top of the wall with an excited smile on her face. She climbed quickly down the rope before pulling it down with her and running back to the car. Smiling in triumph, the man waited for her to jump in and then sped off in the car.

*****

At 00.23, the thieves passed Frank's car. The young police officer in the driver's seat immediately switched on the flashing blue lights and followed them.

Inside the car, the thieves panicked.

'What are they doing here?' the man shouted. 'I thought you said you turned off the alarms?'

'Relax, I did,' she replied. 'They couldn't have got here this fast anyway. They're just traffic police. Just keep calm and act normally and we can walk away from this with the diamond.'

The man slowed their car to a stop and pressed the button that lowered his window.

'Is there a problem, officer?' he asked, his face shiny with nervous sweat.

'You were speeding. We'll need to give you a ticket. Can you both get out of the car, please?'

The man still looked nervous. While one officer wrote out the speeding ticket and the other stood by ready to get involved if things turned nasty, Frank began thoroughly searching the car.

'Hey, what's he searching the car for?' the woman said. But she knew the game was over.

Frank breathed heavily as he knelt down and started lifting up the rubber mats underneath the seats. His hand felt something smooth, hard and cold under the front passenger car seat. The Babbington diamond! He took the diamond and put it in his jacket pocket. At the same time, with his other hand, he took a very similar object out of his trouser pocket. He held it up.

'OK, you two!' he said. 'You are under arrest for robbery!'

*****

While the young police officers arrested and handcuffed the criminals, Frank held the evidence up for everyone to admire. It shone rainbow colours as it caught the light from the moon.

The two officers sighed in appreciation.

'I've never seen a real diamond up close,' said one.

'Imagine someone giving you that as a present!' said the other.

'Just imagine,' Frank agreed. He carefully put it into an evidence bag. Half an hour later, back at the station, he handed it over to Spencer. Spencer took it from him carefully, as if it was a newborn baby.

*****

Five weeks later, Frank was sitting in his new luxury massage chair and drinking a glass of the finest champagne. His expensive new cat rubbed her tail around his legs, and he reached down to stroke her.

With a satisfied sigh, he leaned over and picked up the local newspaper. The two burglars had got six years in prison. The accompanying photo was of the Babbingtons happily showing off the diamond inside its new, extra-thick glass case. Frank looked closely at the photo of the diamond.

Only a jewellery expert would spot anything strange about the Babbington diamond. And even then, only if they saw the stone up close.

Frank put the newspaper down and picked up one of the travel magazines on his beautiful new coffee table.

'Peggy?' he said. 'Would you like to go to the Bahamas or the Maldives?'

Peggy put down her own champagne glass, a small diamond ring on her finger shining in the light. 'Why not both?' she smiled.

'I did promise you a long cruise,' he said.

'You did!' she replied. 'I'm so glad I called you first when I heard them talking about that robbery.'

'Me too, Peggy,' he said. 'Me too.'

Retirement was turning out to be a wonderful thing after all.
Story written by Clive Lane and adapted by Nicola Prentis

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Sergeant Frank Spike is not a successful police officer. But he has 'a nose for crime'. Will his last case change his luck?

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Classic, creamy, mashed potato-topped fish pie, with whitefish, combined with seafood or shrimp, all in a creamy sauce.

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Drizzle and Dip • Top South African Food Photography and Recipe Blog

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Fish Pie - Jamie Oliver’s fantastic recipe

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Jamie Oliver’s fish pie recipe is creamy, comforting, and full of flavour. A classic British dish made with fresh fish and topped with golden mashed potato.

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Some neighbors are coming over in a bit to see the new place. I figured it would be nice to have some scrumptious bites ready to go along with a glass of wine! Or two... I've decided to forgo a more complicated option, and instead throw together some canapés. They're simple and delicious!

Pro Tips for Delicious Canapés

If you want to make this in advance I recommend toasting the bread in the oven first.

Of course you can sub chicken eggs for quail.

Feel free to use what's in season and add your favorite ingredients.

If you're toasting the bread let it cool before spreading the ricotta on top.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between canapés and hors d oeuvres?

A canapé is a type of hor d'oeuvre (appetizer), usually a small bite served on bread, puff pastry or a cracker. Basically canapés are a specific category of appetizer or hor d'oeuvre.

What kind of bread should I use?

Use a nice french bread. If you can find a par baked baguette that's even better. Par baked bread is almost fully baked so you just need to pop it into the oven to finish up and you have a super-fresh moist ing the inside crisp on the outside bread to use.

What's the best cheese for canapés

I love using a fresh ricotta, which really complements many different flavors. You can also try cream or neufchâtel cheese, mascarpone, brie, or any variety you enjoy!

How can I make these in advance?

If you want to make the canapés in advance your best bet is to do all the prep work earlier in the day and store the toppings in sealed containers. Slice the radishes, boil and cut the eggs, wash and prep all your fruits and herbs, etc. Just before you're ready to serve you can easily assemble the canapés in a few moments.

How long will these keep for?

While the preparation of the bread, cheese used, and toppings will all factor into the amount of time a canapé can be left sitting around I would make these no more than 90 minutes in advance to ensure ultimate freshness.

How to make Canapés

Cut your baguette into 1/2 inch slices. If desired you can brush with olive oil and toast in oven at 400F for a few minutes.

I went to the market and bought one of those partially baked baguettes that you finish off in the oven for a super-fresh out of the oven taste. Then I loaded up on fresh ingredients that I love, radishes, cucumbers, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and fresh herbs like mint, dill and chives.

Spread a thin layer of cheese onto the bread. I used a lovely fresh ricotta for these canapés but you can switch things up and use a cream cheese for the salmon, a soft brie, or just brush with olive oil.

Tart blueberries and a drizzle of honey with ricotta is an amazing combination. Halving the berries makes the appetizer a bit cleaner to eat but is optional.

Try a refreshing combination of cucumber slices and mint. I loved this with ricotta but you can definitely go with a smear of cream cheese for some tang.

Place the different fruits on the bread and drizzle a bit of honey on top. I slices some fresh cherries, strawberries and blood orange premiums. You'll love the play of colors on your serving tray and of course they'll all be delicious.

I found the cutest quail eggs at my local market so I just had to serve them hardboiled and sliced with some fresh chives and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. This is another topping that could go well with a cream or neufchâtel cheese.

When you're using an ingredient like fresh dill try to find different combinations thad will pair well with it. For this set of canapés I used smoked salmon and thin sliced of radishes with it. Very different flavors but both delicious.

One of my all-time favorite summer desserts is grilled peaches filled with ricotta cheese lightly sweetened with honey. I took that flavor note and applied it here. The ricotta is so creamy and really compliments the flavors of the various toppings.

I love finding new uses for ingredients I love. Blood orange premiums? Yes please! Have fun and experiment with fresh ingredients you enjoy.

* Nutrition Disclaimer
If you've tried this easy canapé recipe then don't forget to leave a rating and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!

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These quick and easy but of so delicious canapés made with simple, fresh ingredients will wow your guests and delight your palate.

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The dusty glass of an ancient lamp sparkled, and Bronwen jumped back.Nikola rolled his eyes.“The electricity is quite safe,” he said. “Sooner or later, you’ll use it.”Sitting down in a worn velvet chair, Bronwen snorted.“What for, Nikola? I have my magic wand and spells.”Rummaging in the beaded purse, Bronwen pulled out a carved ebony wand adorned with basilisk feathers. She had paid many golden guineas for this part of the…

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O Christmas Tree | Read Free Online Christmas Carols

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A carol praising the evergreen Christmas tree—its verdant branches, steadfast symbolism of faith, festive lights, and the joy it brings each year.

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The Devoted Friend is recommended for ages 8 and over. The reading time is: 10 minutes. Download free printable PDF.

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Potato Salad with Apples (Ensalada de papa)

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Savory meets a hint of sweet with this potato salad with apples in the mix. It is OH SO GOOD!

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Chriselle Lim’s Self-Care Journey in Seoul (Level 3)

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Discover Chriselle Lim’s beauty and self-care tips in Seoul. A perfect read for learners of English news in levels, easy and inspiring.

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The two main characters in our story could not be more different. Stanley Simon was a quiet, rather spindly, nerdy sort of fellow. He enjoyed a modest life with his wife and daughter. You would hardly expect that Stanley is a detective with the San Diego Police Department.

Our other guy, Parker Langston, enjoys a rich life that likely any male might secretly envy. Handsome and personable, he identified himself as an independent art and antiquities dealer. His obvious success was reflected in his pricey home and red Ferrari. He considered other prime possessions to include his beloved dog Titan, the purebred Rottweiler, and his stunningly beautiful girlfriend Lenore.

Frankly, Stanley is not all that interesting. Competent as a detective, he remains an outlier with his fellow officers. They joke about his obsession with speculative high tech and scientific analysis aids for solving crimes. They are content with the tried and true regular police techniques. Stanley's family listened tolerantly to the same lectures at the dinner table. They loved their mild mannered and thoughtful Dad, who had chosen incongruously to be a crime fighter.

Parker had an obsession as well - the need for perfection in his life. This was evident by how he maintained his home in pristine condition; insisted upon instantly resolving disputed facts on Google; or, (most annoyingly to Lenore) by his admonishing her to rigorously retain ideal body measurements of 36, 24 and 36 inches. He was demanding, sometimes arrogant, but otherwise treated her well. His insistence upon perfection was exemplified in his mind as never losing or missing the mark, which could be by the tiniest of margins - such as losing a horse race by a mere head; or a marathon runner after twenty-six plus miles missing first place by just two seconds; or, to the dismay of an assassin, his bullet missing the target's heart by only an inch; or for a collector, a perfect Faberge' egg becoming cracked.

This focus upon perfect and winning performance was Parker's formula for his successes. He was the best of his profession, with no failures on his record. For you see, he was a great , though that term would really demean his expertise and criminal accomplishments. He had even managed to somehow avoid ever having had his fingerprints taken. Parker was a kind of genius at stealing only the most precious or priceless objects. His present assignment was to abscond with the Titian masterpiece "Pieta" headlining the Renaissance exhibit at the city's Buckley Art Museum. $250,000 would be the payment for fulfillment. This Masterpiece was coveted by an unscrupulous wealthy private collector. The arrangement was made via the Dark Web to maintain the anonymity of both Parker and the client.

Detective Simon during this period was dealing with the usual routine crimes of breaking and entering, car theft and the like. Fellow cops responded with the usual yawns and guffaws to his recent insistence that criminal profiling was an invaluable tool for police work.

Sunday came and Parker made final preparations. He wasn't nervous but rather exhilarated. Dressed in snug dark clothing, he carried only his usual disposable latex gloves and the small tools needed for the job. Before leaving, he kissed Lenore and hugged Titan - an established pattern unrelated to superstition. His planning was flawless. He didn't need luck.

The caper was pulled off exactly as planned. Parker left the scene with the painting in hand. He trashed the gloves. He was convinced that nothing else had touched any surface within the Museum. A week later the painting was delivered by an intermediary to the client. The agreed payment was wired to Parker's offshore account. Life was good...really good for him. Feeling magnanimous, he gifted Lenore with a beautiful diamond and sapphire necklace. 'A dazzler for you my Beauty". He took great pleasure reading the news about the theft of the art, describing it as the "work of a master criminal".

Enter Stanley. Well, more accurately, he was just a member of the Department's Robbery Squad headed by Captain Shiver to investigate the crime. The scene at the Museum was exhaustively examined for clues, and its personnel interrogated. It became clear that this was not an inside job, but rather the work of a single criminal. It seemed likely that this was the same person who had committed other high value robberies in recent years.

There were only two items found that might conceivably be linked to the burglar: One, a pair of common latex gloves retrieved from a nearby trash can; and second, a single coarse hair stuck to a wall. It was the Squad's experience that prints could not be extracted from such gloves, even if they had been worn by the culprit. The hair was clearly recognized as not being from a person. These objects were therefore deemed to be of no evidentiary value. After engaging in the standard investigative procedures, Captain Shiver concluded that nothing more could be done. The case was closed with the usual hope that the criminal might somehow reveal himself or be outed by someone.

So, the investigation had run its course with no interruption or contribution by Detective Simon. However, after it ended, he took the initiative of reexamining the sparse evidence. He pondered: If one assumed that the hair and the gloves come from the burglar, what might a more-in-depth analysis possibly reveal? Others on the Robbery Squad had concluded that solving this crime was impossible. Stanley in his persistent analytical way believed this might not be so.

Parker Langston was arrested one sunny Saturday morning by none other than Detective Stanley Simon. Captain Shiver had granted him the honor of making the arrest for cracking the case. Parker at first insisted upon his innocence, but the evidence later persuaded him to plead guilty. By providing information as to the identity of his wealthy client, and confessing to other robberies, a somewhat reduced sentence was promised. He made a special request for Detective Simon to visit him in jail.

"Parker, if it's any consolation to you, I believe you came this close (demonstrating one inch with his fingers) to the commission of a perfect crime. The perpetrator had meticulously planned this theft. In my effort to profile him, it seemed highly likely that he would seek the same kind of perfection in his private life. I thought it reasonable to believe that his parents would also have been compulsively organized and careful. I conceived the culprit to probably be a mid-thirtyish well-educated white male, perhaps residing in California. That profile proved to be close to the mark and helpful. However, here's the surprise key and irony to your capture (after a pause for emphasis) - Yes, a single hair from the dog stuck on your clothing was retrieved from the Museum floor."

"I had that hair identified first as one from a canine. Then a DNA test further identified the breed as a Rottweiler, but even more importantly as a - a quite treasured and valuable animal. As particular as I believed the burglar to be, it seemed likely that he would have required registration papers from a trustworthy breeder for authentication before purchase. With the grudging assistance of the American Rottweiler and Kennel Clubs, I was able to come up with a list of some twenty owners of these purebreds in California.

"The rest you can attribute to my incessant research into the newest tools for crime solving. You felt comfortable wearing the latex gloves believing that they could leave no clue to your identity. However, I had read about a process of retrieving fingerprints from the gloves. Something about lifting the prints with black BVDA gellifters. The crime lab took it from there."

"That was a dilemma. We could hardly interrogate and obtain fingerprints from all of the purebred Rottweiler owner suspects based upon a dog hair of evidence. So, I took another long shot from something I'd read about. Back in 1982 a Bill was passed which authorized, with parent's consent, the fingerprinting of small children. The prints would be retained by the FBI for use in the event of a kidnapping. The Bill was controversial and enjoyed a brief popularity. It sounded though like something that extra careful parents might have done. Pulling some strings, I sent a copy of the glove prints to the FBI together with the names of those certain suspects who would have been in the intended age range in this period. It was a miracle that yours were on file and proved to be a match to prints in the glove. So that's how you were caught."

Before parting, Stanley and Parker shook hands as a sign of mutual respect.

The author is a retired attorney. His writing accomplishments and credits have been primarily in the legal field. As an attorney/businessman, all writing required was necessarily factual, formal, and dull. It has been rewarding for him to now write much more imaginative fiction. In the short period of his creative writing, he has had a number of stories published or chosen as winners or honorable mentions in competitions and contests.

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The two main characters in our story could not be more different. Stanley Simon was a quiet, rather spindly, nerdy sort of fellow. He enjoyed a modest life with his wife and daughter. You would hardly expect that Stanley is a detective with the San Diego Police Department.Our other guy, Parker Langston, enjoys a rich life that likely any male might secretly envy.

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PREP032 - Prepositional Phrases - English Grammar Exercises

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PREP031 - Prepositions

Gap-fill exercise

Fill in all the gaps, then press "Check" to check your answers. Use the "Hint" button to get a free letter if an answer is giving you trouble. You can also click on the "[?]" button to get a clue. Note that you will lose points if you ask for hints or clues!

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PREP031 - Prepositions - English Grammar Exercises

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PREP038 - Prepositions - English Grammar Exercises

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PREP038 - Prepositions - English Grammar Exercises

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In the heart of a bustling city, David lived a seemingly ordinary life. He worked a nine-to-five job, had a small circle of friends, and enjoyed the comfort of his modest apartment. However, everything changed one fateful evening when he decided to explore an obscure antique shop that had recently opened nearby. Intrigued by a vintage mirror nestled in the corner, he felt inexplicably drawn to it. The ornate frame was stunning,…

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A story for learners of English. Improve your language skills by reading short stories at your level, for free.

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A2 Reading Test

Read the text and for questions 1 to 8, match each sentence with the person who might say it.

Why do people collect?

Petra Engels owns 19,571 erasers, Carol Vaughn has 1,221 bars of soap, and Ralf Shrőder has a collection of 14,502 packets of sugar. Many people love to collect things, but why? Psychologists and collectors have different opinions.

The psychologist Carl Jung believed that collecting is part of our ancient human history. Thousands of years ago, humans collected nuts and berries. They kept them carefully and ate them when there was no food. The best collectors survived long cold winters or seasons without rain. Their genes passed to future generations. Nowadays, we still have a collecting instinct.

Historian Philipp Bloom has a different opinion. He thinks collectors want to make something that will remain after their death. By bringing many similar items together, the collector gains historical importance. Sometimes their collections become museums or libraries, for example, Henry Huntington, who founded a library in Los Angeles to house his collection of books.

Author Steve Roach thinks that people collect things to remember their childhood. Many children collect things, but few have enough money to buy the things they really want, and they lose interest. In later life, they remember their collections fondly. Now, they have enough money and opportunity to find special items, and they start collecting again. This way, they can re-live and enjoy their childhood years.

Art collector, Werner Muensterberger, agrees that collecting is linked to childhood. But he believes we collect in order to feel safe and secure. While babies hold blankets or toys to feel safe when their mother isn't there, adults collect things to stop feeling lonely or anxious.

Autograph collector Mark Baker agrees that collecting is emotional, but he doesn't collect to reduce anxiety. "For me, it's the excitement," he says. "I love trying to get a famous person's autograph. Sometimes I succeed, and sometimes I fail. Also, by collecting autographs, I feel connected to famous people. I don't just watch them on television. I actually meet them."

These are just a few reasons for collecting. Do you know any people with collections? Why do they collect?

Take the reading test

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Hobbies: Why do people collect? - Reading test - Test-English

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Reading comprehension test for elementary and pre-intermediate students (CEFR A2). Read a text about hobbies and choose the correct answers.

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Accidental Masterpiece (C2, English) - Fabulang

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An Ancient Power (C1, English) - Fabulang

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Money and finance – B2 English Vocabulary - Page 4 of 4 - Test-English

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Easy Short Stories Free Download - The Black Cat By Edgar Allan Poe Retold by David Wharry book PDF
Watch this story on YouTube and improve your English skills.
The Black Cat

By Edgar Allan Poe

Retold by David Wharry

You are not going to believe this story. But it is a true story, as true as I sit here writing it - as true as I will die in the morning. Yes, this story ends with my end, with my death tomorrow.

I have always been a kind and loving person - everyone will tell you this. They will also tell you that I have always loved animals more than anything. When I was a little boy, my family always had many different animals round the house. As I grew up, I spent most of my time with them, giving them their food and cleaning them.

I married when I was very young, and I was happy to find that my wife loved all of our animal friends as much as I did. She bought us the most beautiful animals. We had all sorts of birds, gold fish, a fine dog and a cat.

The cat was a very large and beautiful animal. He was black, black all over, and very intelligent. He was so intelligent that my wife often laughed about what some people believe; some people believe that all black cats are evil, enemies in a cat's body.

Pluto - this was the cat's name - was my favourite. It was always I who gave him his food, and he followed me everywhere. I often had to stop him from following me through the streets! For years, he and I lived happily together, the best of friends.

But during those years I was slowly changing. It was that evil enemy of Man called Drink who was changing me. I was not the kind, loving person people knew before. I grew more and more selfish. I was often suddenly angry about unimportant things. I began to use bad language, most of all with my wife. I even hit her sometimes. And by that time, of course, I was often doing horrible things to our animals. I hit all of them - but never Pluto. But, my illness was getting worse - oh yes, drink is an illness! Soon I began to hurt my dear Pluto too.

I remember that night very well. I came home late, full of drink again. I could not understand why Pluto was not pleased to see me. The cat was staying away from me. My Pluto did not want to come near me! I caught him and picked him up, holding him strongly. He was afraid of me and bit my hand.

Suddenly, I was not myself any more. Someone else was in my body: someone evil, and mad with drink! I took my knife from my pocket, held the poor animal by his neck and cut out one of his eyes.

The next morning, my mind was full of pain and horror when I woke up. I was deeply sorry. I could not understand how I could do such an evil thing. But drink soon helped me to forget.

Slowly the cat got better. Soon he felt no more pain. There was now only an ugly dry hole where the eye once was. He began to go round the house as usual again. He never came near me now, of course, and he ran away when I went too close.

I knew he didn't love me anymore. At first I was sad. Then, slowly, I started to feel angry, and I did another terrible thing...

I had to do it - I could not stop myself. I did it with a terrible sadness in my heart - because I knew it was evil. And that was why I did it - yes! I did it because I knew it was evil. What did I do? I caught the cat and hung him by his neck from a tree until he was dead.

That night I woke up suddenly - my bed was on fire. I heard people outside shouting, 'Fire! Fire!' Our house was burning! I, my wife and our servant were lucky to escape. We stood and watched as the house burned down to the ground.

There was nothing left of the building the next morning. All the walls fell down during the night, except one - a wall in the middle of the house. I realized why this wall did not burn: because there was new plaster on it. The plaster was still quite wet.

I was surprised to see a crowd of people next to the wall. They were talking, and seemed to be quite excited. I went closer and looked over their shoulders. I saw a black shape in the new white plaster. It was the shape of large cat, hanging by its neck.

I looked at the shape with complete horror. Several minutes passed before I could think clearly again. I knew I had to try to think clearly. I had to know why it was there.

I remembered hanging the cat in the garden of the house next door. During the fire the garden was full of people. Probably, someone cut the dead cat from the tree and threw it through the window - to try and wake me. The falling walls pressed the animal's body into the fresh plaster. The cat burned completely, leaving the black shape in the new plaster. Yes, I was sure that was what happened.

But I could not forget that black shape for months. I even saw it in my dreams. I began to feel sad about losing the animal. So I began to look for another one. I looked mostly in the poor parts of our town where I went drinking. I searched for another black cat, of the same size and type as Pluto.

One night, as I sat in a dark and dirty drinking-house, I noticed a black object on top of a cupboard, near some bottles of wine. I was surprised when I saw it. 'I looked at those bottles a few minutes ago,' I thought, 'and I am sure that object was not there before

I got up, and went to see what it was. I put my hand up, touched it, and found that it was a black cat - a very large one, as large as Pluto. He looked like Pluto too - in every way but one: Pluto did not have a white hair anywhere on his body; this cat had a large white shape on his front.

He got up when I touched him, and pressed the side of his head against my hand several times. He liked me. This was the animal I was looking for! He continued to be very friendly and later, when I left, he followed me into the street. He came all the way home with me - we now had another house - and came inside. He immediately jumped up on to the most comfortable chair and went to sleep. He stayed with us, of course. He loved both of us and very soon he became my wife's favourite animal.

But, as the weeks passed, I began to dislike the animal more and more. I do not know why, but I hated the way he loved me. Soon, I began to hate him - but I was never unkind to him. Yes, I was very careful about that. I kept away from him because I remembered what I did to my poor Pluto. I also hated the animal because he only had one eye. I noticed this the morning after he came home with me. Of course, this only made my dear wife love him more!

But the more I hated the cat, the more he seemed to love me. He followed me everywhere, getting under my feet all the time. When I sat down, he always sat under my chair. Often he tried to jump up on my knees. I wanted to murder him when he did this, but I did not. I stopped myself because I remembered Pluto, but also because I was afraid of the animal.

How can I explain this fear? It was not really a fear of something evil... but then how else can I possibly describe it? Slowly, this strange fear grew into horror. Yes, horror. If I tell you why, you will not believe me. You will think I am mad.

Several times, my wife took the cat and showed me the white shape on his chest. She said the shape was slowly changing. For a long time I did not believe her, but slowly, after many weeks, I began to see that she was right. The shape was changing. Its sides were becoming straighter and straighter. It was beginning to look more and more like an object... After a few more weeks, I saw what the shape was. It was impossible not to see! There, on his front, was the shape of an object I am almost too afraid to name... It

There, on the cat's front was the shape of that terrible machine of pain and death - the gallows!

It was that terrible machine of pain and death - yes, the gallows!

I no longer knew the meaning of happiness, or rest. During the day, the animal never left me. At night he woke me up nearly every hour. I remember waking from terrible dreams and feeling him sitting next to my face, his heavy body pressing down on my heart!

I was now a very different man. There was not the smallest piece of good left in me. I now had only evil thoughts - the darkest and the most evil thoughts. I hated everyone and everything, my dear wife too.

One day she came down into the cellar with me to cut some wood (we were now too poor to have a servant). Of course, the cat followed me down the stairs and nearly made me fall. This made me so angry, that I took the axe and tried to cut the animal in two. But as I brought the axe down, my wife stopped my arm with her hand. This made me even more angry, and I pulled her hand away from my wrist, lifted the tool again, brought it down hard and buried it in the top of her head.

I had to hide the body. I knew I could not take it out of the house. The neighbours noticed everything. I thought of cutting it into pieces and burning it. I thought of burying it in the floor of the cellar. I thought of throwing it into the river at the end of the garden. I thought of putting it into a wooden box and taking it out of the house that way. In the end, I decided to hide the body in one of the walls of the cellar.

It was quite an old building, near the river, so the walls of the cellar were quite wet and the plaster was soft. There was new plaster on one of the walls, and I knew that underneath it the wall was not very strong. I also knew that this wall was very thick. I could hide the body in the middle of it.

It was not difficult. I took off some plaster, took out a few stones and made a hole in the earth that filled the middle of the wall. I put my wife there, put back the stones, made some new plaster and put it on the wall. Then I cleaned the floor, and looked carefully round. Everything looked just as it did before. Nobody would ever know.

Next, I went upstairs to kill the cat. The animal was bringing me bad luck. I had to kill it. I searched everywhere, but I could not find him. I was sure it was because of my wife's murder; he was too clever to come near me now.

I waited all evening, but I did not see the evil animal. He did not come back during the night either. And so, for the first time in a long time, I slept well. When I woke up the next morning, I was surprised to see that the cat still was not there. Two, three days passed, and there was still no cat. I cannot tell you how happy I began to feel. I felt so much better without the cat. Yes, it was he who brought me all my unhappiness. And now, without him, I began to feel like a free man again. It was wonderful - no more cat! Never again!

Several people came and asked about my wife, but I answered their questions easily. Then, on the fourth day, the police came. I was not worried when they searched the house. They asked me to come with them as they searched. They looked everywhere, several times. Then they went down into the cellar. I went down with them, of course. I was not a bit afraid. I walked calmly up and down, watching them search.

They found nothing, of course, and soon they were ready to go. I was so happy that I could not stop talking as they went up the stairs. I did not really know what I was saying. 'Good day to you all, dear sirs.' I said. 'Yes, this is a well-built old house, isn't it? Yes, a very well-built old house. These walls - are you going, gentlemen? - these walls are strong, aren't they?' I knocked hard on the part of the wall where my wife was.

A voice came from inside the wall, in answer to my knock. It was a cry, like a child's. Quickly, it grew into a long scream of pain and horror. I saw the policemen standing on the stairs with their mouths open. Suddenly, they all ran down in a great hurry and began breaking down the wall. It fell quickly, and there was my wife, standing inside. There she was, with dried blood all over her head, looking at them. And there was the cat, standing on her head, his red mouth wide open in a scream, and his one gold eye shining like fire. The clever animal! My wife was dead because of him, and now his evil voice was sending me to the gallows.

- THE END -

Easy Short Stories Free Download - The Black Cat By Edgar Allan Poe Retold by David Wharry book PDF

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fluentu.com - Easy short stories

You can choose almost any short story and get something useful out of it. Each story has its own special features that you can appreciate.

The best kind of story will be one that is interesting, has a strong message and, of course, helps you to both practice and learn English. It will be one that leaves an impact, both in your English education and in your imagination.

Short stories are also a great resource for English learners because they allow you to work on reading, speaking and listening at the same time. In our fantastic digital age, it is possible to find wonderful short stories online in video form. If you find a video that includes English-language subtitles, you can read while also listening to how a native speaker pronounces words.

Some of the short stories highlighted below are available in video format on FluentU, which is a video-based online immersion program. These can help you work on your listening comprehension and pronunciation alongside your reading skills. Each video has interactive subtitles and a video dictionary for unfamiliar words. If you're doing a review quiz for the content, you have the option of speaking in the answers.

Learning a language is hard. With Easy Stories in English, you can learn English the natural way, without studying lists of vocabulary or complicated grammar rules. Every week, Ariel Goodbody, author and language teacher, will present a story adapted to your level of English. The stories will be hilarious, dramatic, and entertaining, but never too difficult. If you're learning English and are tired of boring textbooks, then this is the podcast for you.

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If you are on the lookout for great storytelling but don't want to commit to a full-length novel, then short story collections are the answer. Whether it's just before bed, during your commute, or waiting to see your doctor, small chunks of time are perfect for reading short stories.

Here we have gathered thirty-one of the best short stories and collections, from all sorts of backgrounds and sources, to help you grow your "To Be Read" pile.

For your convenience, we've divided this post into two parts: 1. the ten best free short stories to read right now, and 2. best short story collections. Feel free to jump to the section that you prefer!

Free Short Stories to Read Right Now-easy short stories

These individual short stories are the best of the best - and the even better news is that they're available for free online for you to peruse. From classics published in the 1900s to a short story that exploded in late 2017, here are ten of the greatest free short stories for you to read.

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Below are a collection of online articles featuring free online short story recommendations that you can immediately read. Please check back as we will continuously update.

18 Great Short Stories You Can Read Free Online - by Sarah Ullery (March 19, 2019). Book Riot Online. The creator of this list has compiled her own short story collection onto a phone app to read, easy short stories which she compares to a music playlist created to "match a mood." Ullery also offers suggestions for finding great stories online.
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Short Story Month: Best short stories to read online for free - by Tracy Mumford (May 15, 2015). Minnesota Public Radio® (MPR). MPR News celebrated Short Story Month with a collection of six free "sensational" short stories that includes preview quotes from each story as well as an estimated read time.

13 of the Best Short Stories You Can Read Right Now - by Michelle Hart (July 17, 2019). The Oprah Magazine. "Thirteen of our favorite short stories, from irrefutable classics by Jamaica Kincaid and Flannery O'Connor to newer additions to the pantheon-spanning crime, magical realism, and snackable tales you can devour on the beach."

28 Short Stories You Can Read for Free Right Now - by Jennifer Martin and BookBub Editors (Updated March 11, 2020). BoobBub Online. You'll need to create a free login to BookBub and answer several questions about your reading preferences to access. easy short stories "These stories are by contemporary authors. If you've never read these authors before, their free short stories will give you a taste of their style before you commit to one of their longer works. There's something for everyone, with genres ranging from science fiction to historical fiction to horror."

The short story, says Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Steven Millhauser, has powers the novel only dreams of. "The novel is the Wal-Mart, the Incredible Hulk, the jumbo jet of literature," easy short stories he wrote in his essay, The Ambition of the Short Story. "[And yet] the short story apologises for nothing. It exults in its shortness. It wants to be shorter still. It wants to be a single word. If it could find that word, if it could utter that syllable, the entire universe would blaze up out of it with a roar. That is the outrageous ambition of the short story, that is its deepest faith, that is the greatness of its smallness."

easy short stories Many of history's finest novelists have tried their hand at the short story, and some are even best-known for their prowess in this form. Think of John Cheever, Katherine Mansfield and Tessa Hadley, all of whom appear on this list. Elsewhere, short stories offer unfamiliar readers an opportunity to dip their toe into a writer's style, or else see a different side of them altogether: James Joyce, Carson McCullers and Ian McEwan, arguably best-known for their novels, can all be accessed in a different way through their short fiction.

Readers continue to show a huge appetite for the short story and it's no wonder when modern writers such as Lauren Groff, Daisy Johnson and Ottessa Moshfegh have turned out some of the most critically-acclaimed collections of recent years. There have even been viral short story sensations: 2017's , a tale of romance gone wrong, captured the cultural zeitgeist and sparked conversations around the world immediately after its publication in the

So, without further ado, here are 50 of literature's greatest short stories to entertain, distract, reassure and inspire - just what a short story should do.

Literary critics, historians, avid readers, and even casual readers will all have different opinions on which novel is truly the "greatest book ever written." Is it a novel with beautiful, captivating figurative language? Or one with gritty realism?

A novel that has had an immense social impact? Or one that has more subtly affected the world? Here is a list of 12 novels that, for various reasons, have been considered some of the greatest works of literature ever written easy short stories.

Want to expand your children's vocabulary? Read to them. That's all it takes - and there are other benefits to reading aloud to young children as well.

Reading to older children offers a great method to teach them life lessons in a way that they'll understand. And it's easier than ever to find these moral stories to read.

There is a large selection of short moral stories for kids online. They range from the classics like The Boy Who Cried Wolf, to somber ones talking about greed. To help you out, we've gathered a selection of the most 20 popular stories.

We believe that the key to writing good short stories is reading good short stories.

Below, we have provided an ever-expanding selection of old and new short stories that are free to download.

Short story writers are listed alphabetically.

In 2020 we'll be adding a wide range of new stories to read online.

Recently added stories will be fund at the top of the page.

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100 BEST Easy Short Stories Free Download

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Easy Short Stories Free Download - The Black Cat By Edgar Allan Poe Retold by David Wharry book PDF Watch this story on YouTube and improve your English skills. By Edgar Allan Poe Retold by David Wharry You are not going to believe this story.

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The Colour of Love (C2, English) - Fabulang

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A story for learners of English. Improve your language skills by reading short stories at your level, for free.

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The Brothers’ Choice (B1, English) - Fabulang

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A story for learners of English. Improve your language skills by reading short stories at your level, for free.

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The Birthday Alarm (C1, English) - Fabulang

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A story for learners of English. Improve your language skills by reading short stories at your level, for free.

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Learn English Through Story > Learn English Through Story

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Learning English through English Short stories for Beginner, Elementary, Advanced Levels. Read English short stories and Improve your English skills

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Project: Control (C2, English) - Fabulang

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A story for learners of English. Improve your language skills by reading short stories at your level, for free.

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A Table for Three (B2, English) - Fabulang

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A story for learners of English. Improve your language skills by reading short stories at your level, for free.

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A Very Tasteful Green (C1, English) - Fabulang

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A story for learners of English. Improve your language skills by reading short stories at your level, for free.

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The King’s Fountain Pen (C2, English) - Fabulang

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A story for learners of English. Improve your language skills by reading short stories at your level, for free.

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If you're reading this, you're using a piece of technology that's celebrating its 30th birthday. It's an invention that changed the world, but which invention do you think we're talking about? The internet? The World Wide Web? If you thought they were both the same thing, then keep reading ...

The internet vs. the World Wide Web

The internet and the web are not exactly the same thing, then? No, actually. The internet has been around since the early 1970s - twenty years longer than the web. It is basically a huge network made up of smaller networks of computers. The World Wide Web is built on top of the internet. It's a way of sharing information in the form of webpages, using a kind of computer language called HTTP. That's why URLs often start http://www - because http is the language and www means World Wide Web. By the way, no one knows why web addresses use //. Even the web's inventor, Tim Berners-Lee, says these 'forward slashes' are not really necessary and if he could go back in time thirty years and invent the World Wide Web again, he would take them out.

The beginning of the World Wide Web

In 1989, when British scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the web, he was working at CERN in Switzerland. They had computers, of course, and email already existed (Queen Elizabeth II sent an email in 1976). The idea of domain names - web addresses showing the name of the organisation they belong to (like 'britishcouncil.org') - also existed. They used hypertext to jump from one document to another, but none of these things worked together so they weren't very useful.

Berners-Lee was frustrated at CERN because all the scientists had different kinds of computers that couldn't 'speak' to each other. If you wanted information you had to remember exactly which computer that information was on and know how to use the specific programs for that computer. Berners-Lee had an idea for an 'imaginary information system which everyone can read'. He wrote a report that suggested a way of putting the internet, domain names and hypertext together into one system. His idea was so abstract that his boss called it 'vague but exciting'. Two years later, in 1991, the world's first website was built at CERN, http://info.cern.ch (the site you can see now is a copy made in 1992).

The digital divide

Today, thirty years later, that idea is no longer vague and is part of many people's everyday reality. The web connects about 55 per cent of the world's population to the rest of the world via the internet. But because only half the world is connected, there is a 'digital divide' between communities with regular internet access and those without. In North America, 95 per cent of people have internet access and so do 85 per cent of Europeans. Compare this with Asia, where only half the population has internet access, and Africa, at 36 per cent. In some of the least developed countries, young people are three times more likely to be online than older adults.

The United Nations says the world's least developed countries will have universal internet access by 2020. They expect to achieve this with the help of low-cost mobile phone services which include internet. This is the key to ending the digital divide. When the web is available to everyone, just like Tim Berners-Lee imagined, people everywhere can enjoy the social, educational and economic advantages it brings.

This article is part of , a year-long programme of projects and partnerships looking at the impact of the World Wide Web on our lives. Find out more here: Anyone//Anywhere: the web at 30 https://www.britishcouncil.org/anyone-anywhere

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One of the world's most important inventions is celebrating its 30th birthday. Read the article to find out what it is.

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“What is hateful to you,” said Hillel, “do not do to your neighbor. That is the entire Torah...”

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missing people

Disappearance

Hi! I am new here and I am not sure if this has not been posted here before, so forgive me if I am repeating something. I will try to explain what is happening in one particular area in Slovakia. Please note that English is not my mother tongue so if there is any misunderstanding, please write it in a comment.

Slovakia is a country in the middle of the Europe. The biggest mountains here are Carpathian Mountains, and Tribeč is part of Carpathian Mountains. Tribeč is a relatively small and not that high mountain. It is located in the west side of the country. It has a shape of a triangle it is not considered to be somehow dangerous, definitely not the way High Tatras are. The climate is moderate, four seasons, no tornados, no earthquakes, just a normal calm environment with wild animals.

So there is a whole series of missing people in Tribeč, however I believe that most of them could be explained as tragic accidents when animal attacked a victim, preventing the body to be found. However there are some cases that makes me question this whole situation. This is some sort of "urban legend" because there is a book about this, so some people believe it is all just a conspiracy to gain fame, and others believe there is a sinister activity. On the other hand, it is true that people disappeared and have never been found, or their bodies or remains. Now for the cases:

1929 - A. Samšály went missing

22nd of November, heavy snow kept falling on the whole region. That day, A. Samšály, the ranger/forester went missing. And that's it. He just went into the woods and snow made it impossible to find him, until spring. However his body was never found. It is possible that he committed suicide, he has no wife nor children and had a relatively lonely life. But it just seems absurd that his body was never recovered/found, considering how relatively small Tribec is.

1939 - Walter Fischer went missing

Walter Fischer worked in a shoe factory in Patizanske, a small city on the west of the Tribeč Mountains. He worked there from Monday to Saturday and on Sundays he went to visit his wife and children in another small city (none of the sources mention which one). One Sunday, he decided that he won't be visiting his family, but rather go for a hike. His destination, according to testimony of his colleagues, was "Castle Black" or Čierny hrad (yes, like in Game of Thrones). Castle Black is 23 km from Partizanske, which means that if he wanted to come back that day, he was supposed to walk almost 50 km, and most of them are through the woods. Now, note that this was 24th of January (however, 24th January 1939 was Tuesday, not Sunday, so the source or the original source from that time period is wrong), the coldest month in this climate, and it is very, very possible there was snow in the mountains. He went on a hike and disappeared. No one really cared, until his wife 4 weeks later noticed that something is off. (Now, for explanation - the factory in which he worked in didn't give a damn=didn’t care , they had many people waiting for work, so they assumed he just left or something. Though I have no idea why his wife would wait 4 weeks, she could have an affair or whatever, it doesn't really matter anymore I think).

That was it, he disappeared. Until the May 8th. On this day, Walter Fisher was found, and now the interesting part begins. He was found alive but unconscious, with several burns on his face and body. He was found on a field near Zlate Moravce, which is a city 35km from Partizanske, where he was last seen. It is also on the other side of the Tribec mountains. Walter Fischer was found in a bad psychological condition and he spent the rest of his life in a facility for mentally ill people. Please mind that if there were any files for this case, that may very well be destroyed already, because September 1939 is the beginning of WWII. and Slovakia was affected by the war.

1966 - Husband and wife went missing

In 1966, Jan and Alena, married couple went missing. The only track they left was their car, parked approximately  5km behind the Jelenec (another small city near Tribec) near the forrest leading to Tribec. Both Alena and Jan were missing in work since February. In car, there was nothing abnormal, nothing that would indicate a crime. They have never been found and still remain missing to this day. The search was expanded to whole of the Slovakia. According to source, it just somehow looks like they stepped out of the car and disappeared for good.

To any Slovaks here - I know this was/is a hot topic in conspiracy theories, and that some cases are easily explained. I mentioned cases that raised many questions to me and would like to ask if anyone has any rational explanations. There are more missing people, as in any mountain area in the world, but these three are just most weird.

Please note that these cases are old or happened during the uneasy political time (especially the '60s, husband and wife) so there might be a political explanation behind it.

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MEDICAL MEDIUM RECIPES: Recipe Categories

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Official Medical Medium Recipes @ medicalmedium.com

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Save Recipe

Sugarplums are a classic holiday candy popularized in poems like "The Night Before Christmas," and in the classic ballet The Nutcracker, where the Sugarplum Fairy reigns over the magical kingdom known as The Land of Sweets.

What's in a Sugarplum?

Sugarplums contain different varieties of dried fruit and nuts, such as dates, walnuts, dried cranberries, and fall spices such as ground cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. They're naturally sweet from the dried fruit and are traditionally rolled in sugar before serving.

Substitute Ingredients

This recipe is very flexible, so you can create your own sugarplum recipe by substituting other dried fruits and nuts if you like. Additionally, you can customize this recipe to suit any occasion. Consider trying the suggested variations below the recipe for some exciting twists.

Tips

Give the food processor a head start by first chopping the nuts and dried fruit into similar-sized pieces.

Use slightly dampened hands to help prevent the sugarplums from sticking to your hands as you roll the candies.

Indicate that the candies contain nuts if giving them as gifts.

"I love a recipe that can be chopped in a food processor to help speed it along. The sugarplums last for about a month, so make these in advance for a party." -Noah Velush-Rogers

1. Gather the ingredients.

2. Place 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pitted dates, 1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts, 1/4 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries, 1/4 cup coarsely chopped prunes, and 1/4 cup coarsely chopped skinless toasted hazelnuts in a food processor. Pulse the mixture a few times.

3. Add 2 tablespoons cherry preserves, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves. Pulse several more times until the mixture begins to come together. It should hold together in a ball when you squeeze it between your fingers. You want to retain some of the coarse texture. Do not over-process it into a sticky paste.

4. Roll the candy into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in 1/2 cup granulated sugar until coated. Serve.

How to Serve Sugarplums

Place each individual sugarplum in a small, decorative candy cup. Metallic or holiday-colored candy cups will bring a festive look to this serving style.

Form a decorative display by stacking or setting the sugarplums up in a tall circle.

Add them to any holiday cookie plate or dessert display.

How to Store

Store the sugarplums in an airtight container between layers of wax paper.

Sugarplums can be kept refrigerated for up to one month or frozen for up to 3 months.

Feeling Adventurous? Try This

Make an adult version. Add a spoonful of brandy or rum as an additional ingredient. If the mixture feels too wet, add a little more of the dried fruits or nuts to help bind, or pop them into the fridge for a bit.

Roll in alternative sugars. Roll the sugarplums in white sanding sugar or multi-colored sugar crystals.

Try a different preserve. Swap the cherry preserves for a fruit chutney such as Major Grey's.

I don't like this at all. It's not the worst. Sure, this will do. I'm a fan-would recommend. Amazing! I love it! Thanks for your rating!

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Homemade Sugarplum Candies Just Like in The Nutcracker

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Sugarplums are a holiday candy popularized in poems and The Nutcracker Ballet. This sugarplum recipe contains different varieties of dried fruit and nuts.

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As you learn more and more about English, you may feel confused when you see odd phrases that just don't make sense. One of your friends may say, "It's raining cats and dogs!". When you look up at the sky, however, you can't see any domesticated pets, only water!

These phrases are called "idioms". Idioms are phrases (groups of words) that have a hidden meaning which isn't clear when reading the words literally. They might seem baffling or random to you, but most idioms were born hundreds of years ago, and have slowly become part of everyday English speech.

Why learn idioms? Well, if you want to become as skilled as possible in English, you'll need to know them. Textbooks don't always teach you about them, but dropping an idiom into your conversations from time to time will help you fit in and certainly help you pass your Cambridge exams.

(If you want your English to really sparkle, buy my new online course and use phrasal verbs AND idioms!)

Here are 10 of the most common idioms that are easy to use in daily conversation:

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10 Idioms You Can Use Today - CAE Exam Tips

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As you learn more and more about English, you may feel confused when you see odd phrases that just don't make sense. One of your friends may say, "It's raining cats and dogs!". When you look up at the sky, however, you can't see any domesticated pets, only water!

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Belling the Cat, based on one of Aesop's fables, 625 words. Comprehension questions follow the story. These historical stories and worksheets provide reading practice for elementary school kids. Free | Worksheets | Reading Grade 3

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English as a Second Language

Why learn English? English is currently one of the most widely spoken and written languages worldwide and is the largest language on the internet. Are you new in an English speaking country? Are you taking ESL classes? Are you preparing for major exams such as TOEFL, ACT, IELTS or SAT? Do you have an upcoming English exam? Are you planning to travel to London, San Francisco, New York? Maybe you just want to learn English as a second language? All of the above?

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Learn English - Grammar Exercises (Online / PDF / Video)

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Thousands of Free English Teaching / Learning Resources-- Online / PDF / Video exercises and answers, reading, vocabulary tests

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Created with Hot Potatoes by Half-Baked Software, registered to Klaus Rosmanitz.

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Created with Hot Potatoes by Half-Baked Software, registered to Klaus Rosmanitz.

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Created with Hot Potatoes by Half-Baked Software, registered to Klaus Rosmanitz.

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T126-Future Perfect Tense - English Grammar Exercises