English Reading
English Reading has 67 concepts, grouped by level below. Open one to read how it works, try practice items, and ask a question.
Absolute Beginner
- Reading a name badge and a simple form Finding a name, a country, and a number on a page.
- Reading numbers and prices Figures, prices, and times as written.
- Reading short public signs Exit, open, no entry, and the rest.
- Reading the alphabet and single words Letters and whole short words on sight.
Beginner
- Reading a form Understanding what each field is asking for.
- Reading a short newspaper article Finding the main fact in a very short report.
- Reading a short personal profile Getting name, country, and job from a few lines.
- Reading a short story Following who did what, in order.
- Reading text messages Following a short exchange between two people.
Elementary
- Common public signs and notices Understanding short public signs and notices seen in everyday life.
- Finding specific information Locating one fact in a longer text.
- Identifying paragraph headings Matching a heading to the paragraph it belongs to.
- Reading a description of a place Building a picture from a written description.
- Reading for the main idea Saying in one sentence what a text is about.
- Short Sentences — literal comprehension Literal comprehension of single, simple present/present-continuous sentences.
- Two-line dialogue comprehension Understanding the meaning and intent behind short two-line dialogues.
- Understanding a traditional story Following a narrative with unfamiliar detail.
- Understanding feelings and opinions Telling what a writer thinks from how they say it.
Pre-Intermediate
- Extracting the main points from an article Reducing a longer article to three or four key points.
- Finding key information in a factual text Locating the answer to a specific question in a factual passage.
- Following the key events in a narrative Tracking who did what, and in what order, through a short story.
- Identifying pros and cons in a text Sorting the arguments for and against into two lists.
- Matching information to people using textual clues Deciding which person a detail belongs to when several are described.
- Recognizing text type and purpose Telling an advert from a review, a notice, or a news report.
- Scanning for facts, numbers, and data Finding specific figures in a text without reading every word.
- Summarizing the main point of a text Stating in one sentence what a short article is mainly about.
- Understanding a personal description Picking out age, job, and personality details from a short profile or article.
- Understanding a short story Following character, setting, and outcome in a short piece of fiction.
- Understanding a theory or explanation Following an explanation of why something happens.
- Understanding cohesion — how connectors link a text Using because, so, but, and although to follow an argument across sentences.
- Understanding opinions in a short text Separating what a writer thinks from what a writer reports.
- Understanding rules and instructions Reading the rules of a game or a set of instructions and acting on them.
- Using topic sentences to follow a text Reading the first sentence of each paragraph to predict its content.
Intermediate
- Following a narrative Tracking events, order, and cause.
- Reading for specific detail Finding the one fact you need.
- Recognizing text organization Seeing how an argument is built.
- Understanding attitude and opinion Telling what a writer thinks from how they write.
- Understanding the main point of an article Saying in one sentence what a text argues.
- Working out meaning from context Getting an unknown word from what surrounds it.
Intermediate Plus
- Following a written narrative Order, cause, and consequence in a story.
- Reading for specific information Locating a detail without reading everything.
- Recognizing register and purpose Telling formal from informal, and why it was written.
- Understanding a description of a place Building a picture from prose.
- Understanding a longer article Following an argument across several paragraphs.
- Working out unknown words Using context and word parts.
Upper-Intermediate
- Identifying the writer's opinion Separating claim from report.
- Reading for detail under time pressure Scanning accurately rather than exhaustively.
- Recognizing text structure and cohesion How paragraphs and connectors hold a text together.
- Understanding a long article Following a developed argument.
- Understanding a narrative with shifts in time Following a story that moves around.
- Using contextual clues Inferring meaning the text does not state.
Advanced
- Evaluating evidence in a text Telling assertion from support.
- Following a text with dense reference Keeping track of what each pronoun points at.
- Inferring attitude and implication Reading what is meant rather than said.
- Reading for gist at speed Getting the shape of a text quickly.
- Understanding a complex argument Following reasoning across a long text.
- Understanding literary and journalistic style Recognizing register, tone, and craft.
Advanced Plus
- Assessing an argument critically Weighing evidence against claim.
- Reading dense or specialized text Getting through unfamiliar subject matter.
- Recognizing tone and register shifts Hearing where a text changes footing.
- Understanding finer points of detail The distinctions a careless reading loses.
- Understanding implicit attitudes and opinions Reading a position that is never stated.
Proficiency
- Detecting bias and rhetorical strategy Seeing the argument behind the sentences.
- Reading at speed, for gist and for detail Switching between the two deliberately.
- Reading between the lines Recovering what a writer chose not to say.
- Reading legal and technical documents Dense, precise text where a word choice is binding.
- Reading literary prose Style, voice, and what fiction does that reporting does not.