English Reading Practice

English reading practice is very important if you want to improve your English reading skills.

This section contains articles on different subjects for you to read. Each article has contains an exercise too.

Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses

So here are your next steps:

1. Pick an article and start reading!
   
   
2. Make sure you use a good dictionary to check the words you don't understand.
   
   
3. Do the exercise for that specific article.
   
   
4. Move forward to the next article!

Topics:

Human Rights (videos, stories and exercises)

Videos, stories and exercises on the 30 human rights. For example: The Right to Life, Freedom of Thought, Freedom of Expression, and others. A video and story to illustrate each right.

Moral Stories (videos, stories and exercises)

Videos, stories and exercises on the 21 principles of The Way to Happiness. It is a common sense guide to better living which has been distributed to more than 100 million people in over 100 languages. It describes 21 principles to a better quality of life.

For example: Love and Help Children, Respect the Religious Beliefs of Others, Set a Good Example, Be Worthy of Trust, Safeguard and Improve Your Environment, and others. A video and story to illustrate each principle.

Drug Education Stories (videos, stories and exercises)

Videos, stories and exercises on common drugs and their dangerous hidden effects.

Countries (articles and exercises)

Articles and exercises about the countries of the world. What is special about each country? What is its history? Interesting stories and inspiring leaders from around the world.

Reading Comprehension Texts and Exercises

Reading practice on diverse topics and different comprehension exercises, with an emphasis on collocations.

Printable Worksheets (articles and exercises in PDF format)

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Here is an example article. It is about the African country Morocco, and a beautiful story of its people.

Morocco

Morocco is a country in Africa. It is the most northwestern country. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Mediterranean Sea to the north. It borders Algeria to the west.

Folk stories are a very important part of Moroccan culture. These are stories that tell about the beliefs, traditions, and history of Morocco and the Moroccan people. From these stories, listeners can learn a lot about Morocco and what is important to Moroccans.

Moroccan Folk Stories

"Folk" means people from a particular country who have a certain way of life.

There are many Moroccan Folk stories that are still told throughout Morocco today. These stories each teach lessons and give an insight to Moroccan culture. An "insight" is an understanding of something.

Many Moroccan folk stories have similar themes. A "theme" is an idea or topic that repeats itself. Travelling is an important theme in these folk stories as are animals, Islam, family, and respect. The stories always feature (talk about) the landscape of Morocco from the deserts to the mountains and the cities.


Water and housing are also very important themes in Moroccan folk stories. This is probably because both water and housing are hard to find, yet very important, in the desert.

One of the most loved Moroccan folk stories is called, "The Girl Who Lived With Gazelles." The story involves many of the themes typically used in Moroccan folk stories including family, Islam, animals, respect, and the desert.

The Girl Who Lived with Gazelles

There was once a young girl who lived with her father in the city.

The father went away on a business trip. When he came back, the city's priest, who was a bad man, told him an evil lie about the girl. Though the lie was not true, the father believed the priest and banished the girl to the desert. "Banished" means sent away forever.


In the desert, the girl was adopted (taken care of) by a herd (group) of gazelles. A "gazelle" is a kind of animal similar to a deer or horse. She lived with the gazelles for many years.


One day, a handsome prince came by and saw the girl. The two fell in love and got married. Together, they had a son.

However, the prince's advisor was jealous of the love between the prince and the girl. Because of this, he stole the baby. The girl was so upset and frightened (scared) that she ran away to a village nearby. There she wore a man's cloths and found work.

Many years later, the village was holding a hunting competition. The girl's father, the priest, the prince, and the advisor were all there. The girl recognized them (knew who they were), but they did not recognize her.

At the competition, the girl stood up and told her life story to the crowd.

Everyone immediately recognized her. They understood she was telling the truth! The girl, the prince, and her father were all happily reunited (brought together again). The priest and advisor were banished to prison.

They soon learned that the son who had been stolen was actually living in the village. The girl and her husband, the prince, were then reunited with their son.

The prince was so happy that he passed a law that said that hunters could not hunt (kill) gazelles. From that day on, the gazelles were protected from harm.

Back to Topics

And now, practice:

Morocco - Exercises

Vocabulary Questions

1. What does "insight" mean?


2. What does "theme" mean?


3. What does "banished" mean?

Grammar Questions

1. From these stories, listeners can learn _________ lot about Morocco.


2. Many Moroccan folk stories _________ similar themes.


3. The father went away _________ a business trip.

Comprehension Questions

1. What are some themes in Moroccan folk stories?

_______________________________________________________________

2. Why did the girl's father banish her to the desert?

_______________________________________________________________

3. What did the prince do at the end of the story because he was so happy?

_______________________________________________________________

Full list of articles and exercises

Human Rights  Back to Topics

Article 02 – Our Human Rights

Article 03 – Human Right #1: We Are All Born Free and Equal

Article 04 – Human Right #2: Don’t Discriminate

Article 05 – Human Right #3: The Right to Life

Article 06 – Human Right #4: No Slavery

Article 07 – Human Right #5: No Torture

Article 08 – Human Right #6: You Have Rights No Matter Where You Go

Article 09 – Human Right #7: We're All Equal Before the Law

Article 10 – Human Right #8: Your Human Rights Are Protected by Law

Article 11 – Human Right #9: No Unfair Detainment

Article 12 – Human Right #10: The Right to Trial

Article 13 – Human Right #11: We're Always Innocent Till Proven Guilty

Article 14 – Human Right #12: The Right to Privacy

Article 15 – Human Right #13: Freedom to Move

Article 16 – Human Right #14: The Right to Seek a Safe Place to Live

Article 17 – Human Right #15: Right to a Nationality

Article 18 – Human Right #16: Marriage and Family

Article 19 – Human Right #17: The Right to Your Own Things

Article 20 – Human Right #18: Freedom of Thought

Article 21 – Human Right #19: Freedom of Expression

Article 22 – Human Right #20: The Right to Public Assembly

Article 23 – Human Right #21: The Right to Democracy

Article 24 – Human Right #22: Social Security

Article 25 – Human Right #23: Workers' Rights

Article 26 – Human Right #24: The Right to Play

Article 27 – Human Right #25: Food and Shelter for All

Article 28 – Human Right #26: The Right to Education

Article 29 – Human Right #27: Copyright

Article 30 – Human Right #28: A Fair and Free World

Article 31 – Human Right #29: Responsibility

Article 32 – Human Right #30: No One Can Take Away Your Human Rights

Article 33 – Minds of Peace

Moral Stories  Back to Topics

Moral Story Number 1: Take Care of Yourself

Moral Story Number 2: Be Temperate

Moral Story Number 3: Do Not Be Promiscuous

Moral Story Number 4: Love and Help Children

Moral Story Number 5: Honor and Help Your Parents

Moral Story Number 6: Set a Good Example

Moral Story Number 7: Seek to Live With the Truth

Moral Story Number 8: Do Not Murder

Moral Story Number 9: Don't Do Anything Illegal

Moral Story Number 10: Support a Government Designed and Run for All the People

Moral Story Number 11: Do Not Harm a Person of Good Will

Moral Story Number 12: Safeguard and Improve Your Environment

Moral Story Number 13: Do Not Steal

Moral Story Number 14: Be Worthy of Trust

Moral Story Number 15: Fulfill Your Obligations

Moral Story Number 16: Be Industrious

Moral Story Number 17: Be Competent

Moral Story Number 18: Respect the Religious Beliefs of Others

Moral Story Number 19: Try Not to Do Things to Others That You Would Not Like Them to Do to You

Moral Story Number 20: Try to Treat Others as You Would Want Them to Treat You

Moral Story Number 21: Flourish and Prosper

Drug Education Stories

Drug Education Story Number 1: Ecstasy

Drug Education Story Number 2: Marijuana

Drug Education Story Number 3: LSD

Countries  Back to Topics

Afghanistan, Algeria, Australia, Austria, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, 

Ireland, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, North Korea, South Korea, Spain

Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan,

United Kingdom, United States, Thomas Jefferson, Chinese Cooking

Printable Worksheets  Back to Topics

Abraham Lincoln, Aristotle, Confucius, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mahatma Gandhi,

Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Plato, Socrates,

Sri Krishna, Buddha

English Reading Practice – an article about Cats.

English Reading Practice – an article about Fruit and Vegetables.

English short stories  Back to Topics

There is another section of Really Learn English, where you can read short English stories for beginners. These are really simple stories with illustrations.

They are divided into several levels:

• Level 01 – Beginners
  
  
• Level 02 – Beginners Plus – Easy English Stories
  
  
• Level 03 – Elementary
  
  
• Level 4 – Elementary Plus
  
  
• Level 5 – Intermediate

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