Reading Lab — English Reading Practice
A complete general-English reading curriculum from A1 to C1: 48 original texts — daily life, emails, news, blogs, interviews, essays, editorials — each with an interactive reader, vocabulary lookup, a named reading strategy, and questions with full explanations. Not TOEFL: this is reading for life, work, and pleasure.
How a Reading Lab lesson works
Every lesson follows the same rhythm: read the text, look up the bold words as you go, highlight key sentences, answer questions that train a specific skill — main idea, inference, tone, argument — then finish with a mini review. From B1 up, an optional timer measures your reading speed; at A1 and A2 there is no clock. Take your time.
📈 Your Reading Lab progress: sign of a good reader — a finished text. Completed lessons are counted here automatically.
A1 — First Texts (10 lessons)
Short, friendly texts about daily life, family, home, food, shopping, weather, messages, signs and schedules.
Skills: Finding information · Basic vocabulary · Simple comprehension
A Day in My Life
Read about Ethan's day, from breakfast to bedtime. (Daily Life · ~2 min · ●○○ Gentle)
OpenMy Family
Meet one family: a teacher, a nurse, two kids, and a small dog. (Family · ~1 min · ●○○ Gentle)
OpenFood for the Week
A shopping list, a family, and one small problem: ice cream. (Food & Shopping · ~1 min · ●○○ Gentle)
OpenAt the Store
Julia needs new shoes. The red ones look great — but there is a problem. (Shopping · ~1 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenTom Likes Sports
Soccer on Tuesdays, swimming on Saturdays — Tom's week is full of sports. (Hobbies · ~1 min · ●○○ Gentle)
OpenA Sunny Weekend
Sun today, rain tomorrow — Emma is happy with both. (Weather · ~1 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenAnna's Morning
Anna is a teacher, and her morning starts at 6:30. Follow her routine. (Routines · ~1 min · ●○○ Gentle)
OpenShort Messages
Three short messages: from Lisa, from Dad, and from Coach Mike. Read fast! (Messages · ~1 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenSigns and Schedules
Signs and schedules give information fast — if you know how to look. (Signs & Schedules · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenA2 — Everyday Reading (10 lessons)
Emails, notices, short articles, travel information and personal stories from everyday life.
Skills: Main idea · Details · Vocabulary in context · Sequencing · Simple inference
An Email from Emma
Emma writes to her friend about her new apartment in Denver. (Emails · ~2 min · ●○○ Gentle)
OpenThe New Café on Main Street
A small news article about a café that everyone in town is talking about. (Short Articles · ~2 min · ●○○ Gentle)
OpenNotices at the Library
Three notices on a library board: hours, an English club, and a lost bag. (Notices · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenA Trip to Denver
A travel plan for a weekend in Denver: trains, a museum, and cold mountains. (Travel · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenMy First Job
Jack remembers his first job at a bakery — the nervous first day and the bike he bought. (Personal Stories · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenA Rainy Day at the Beach
The family plans a beach day. Then the rain comes. What do they do? (Everyday Situations · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenAn Email About a Party
Sophia invites her friends to a birthday barbecue — and Lily writes back. (Emails · ~2 min · ●○○ Gentle)
OpenThe City Marathon
Three thousand runners, one 78-year-old star, and money for a children's hospital. (Short Articles · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenLost and Found
Ethan leaves his bag on the train. His laptop and wallet are inside. What now? (Everyday Situations · ~2 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenTrains and Tickets
A practical guide: singles, returns, screens, and one platform change. (Travel · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenB1 — Real-World Reading (10 lessons)
News, blogs, stories, interviews, personal essays and informative articles.
Skills: Main idea · Inference · Author's purpose · Vocabulary from context · Organization · Fact vs opinion
The Night Market
A news report from Cedar Falls, where the summer night market has opened again. (News · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenWhy I Run
A personal blog about morning runs, stress, and one small medal. (Blogs · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenThe Old Bookshop
A Boston bookshop is about to close forever — until a customer finds a note in an old book. (Stories · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenAn Interview with a Chef
Chef Daniel Cole talks about his grandmother's kitchen, hard work, and advice for young cooks. (Interviews · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenMy Semester in Seattle
A student from a small town spends a semester in Seattle — rain, libraries, and growing up. (Personal Essays · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenHow Recycling Works
Follow a plastic bottle from your kitchen bin to a new life as a jacket. (Informative Articles · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenPhones in the Classroom: Help or Distraction?
Facts, studies, and strong opinions — can you tell them apart? (Informative Articles · ~2 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenThe Library of the Future
Makerspaces, cafés, and robots that bring you books — libraries are changing fast. (Informative Articles · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenThe Marathon Runner
At 65, Ms. Alvarez is training for her twentieth marathon. A news profile. (News · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenWorking from Home: A Balanced View
No commute, but also no colleagues at lunch. A blog post weighs both sides. (Blogs · ~2 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenB2 — Reading to Analyze (10 lessons)
Opinion articles, reports, essays, longer nonfiction and cultural analysis.
Skills: Inference · Author's attitude & tone · Argument & evidence · Implied meaning · Organization · Writer's purpose
The Case for a Four-Day Week
An opinion article argues that the five-day week is overdue for retirement. (Opinion Articles · ~2 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenCities Are Getting Greener
A report on how American cities are planting their way to cooler streets. (Reports · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenIn Praise of Boredom
An essay in defense of doing nothing — and the wandering mind it sets free. (Essays · ~2 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenThe Rise of Urban Gardens
Empty lots are turning into gardens across America's cities. A look at why. (Longer Nonfiction · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenThanksgiving in America
Turkey, travel, football, and gratitude: what Thanksgiving means in the United States today. (Cultural Articles · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenReading the Market: Small Business in a Changing City
Coffee shops multiply, bookstores return, rents climb. An analysis of what the numbers mean. (Analytical Texts · ~2 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenShould Cash Disappear?
Cards and phones are winning. A writer argues that paper money still has one essential job. (Opinion Articles · ~2 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenThe Science of Sleep
Why teenagers are not lazy, why memory needs the night, and what schools changed. (Longer Nonfiction · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenThe New Museum on the River
A review of the city's new art museum: a glorious building, one weak café, and a line out the door. (Cultural Articles · ~2 min · ●●○ Steady)
OpenThe Quiet Comeback of Vinyl
Young listeners are buying a technology their grandparents threw away. The reason is not the sound. (Cultural Articles · ~2 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenC1 — Advanced Reading (8 lessons)
Editorials, academic-style articles, complex essays and sophisticated argumentative nonfiction.
Skills: Nuanced inference · Tone · Rhetorical purpose · Argument analysis · Assumptions · Author's stance · Evidence evaluation
Your Attention, Please
An editorial argues that attention — not oil, not data — is the defining scarcity of our century. (Editorials · ~3 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenThe City That Never Sleeps — At What Cost?
An editorial weighs the romance of the 24-hour city against the people who pay for its wakefulness. (Editorials · ~2 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenThe Architecture of Memory
How streets and rooms hold our memories — and what is lost when they are demolished. (Academic-Style Articles · ~3 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenIn Defense of Slow Scholarship
An essay argues that the race to publish is making knowledge shallower — and that slowness can be a form of rigor. (Complex Essays · ~3 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenThe Algorithm Will See You Now
Software now screens our job applications and ranks hospital patients. When should a machine's judgment be final? (Sophisticated Nonfiction · ~2 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenNostalgia Is Not a Policy
Every era believes the last one was golden. An argument about memory, politics, and the uses of longing. (Argumentative Texts · ~3 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenThe Language of Climate
Budgets, wars, fevers, and debts: how the metaphors we choose quietly decide the policies we can imagine. (Academic-Style Articles · ~3 min · ●●● Challenge)
OpenOn Expertise: Who Should We Believe?
Never has expert knowledge been so available, or so distrusted. An essay on what expertise actually is. (Complex Essays · ~3 min · ●●● Challenge)
Open