Reading-based Worksheets

How well do your students know the story of Nelson Mandela?

This worksheet has a short gap-fill reading. It's ideal for students working in pairs.

If you're in a one-on-one lesson, the teacher can take one of the roles.

Students need to read the story and ask their partner questions in order to fill in the gaps.

The questions are both active and passive.

This worksheet is also a great way to build your students' vocabulary. It is written for intermediate-level classes.

Online auctions are becoming big business as people search in their lofts for things of value.

This worksheet looks at the growing popularity of online auctions. There's a mini-quiz, a reading, vocabulary work and lots of discussion.

It's great for intermediate and advanced-level students.

We have added (December 2013) a new vocabulary quiz and made adjustments for a UK and USA version of this worksheet.

How popular is cosmetic surgery in your students' home countries? Is there anything wrong with going under the knife?

This worksheet looks at the growing popularity of cosmetic surgery, including some statistics for the USA and UK.

It makes a great topic for discussion. How far should people go in order to change their appearance? Is cosmetic surgery any different to dying your hair or having teeth straightened?

This worksheet will help build vocabulary, reading and discussion skills. It is written for upper-intermediate and advanced-level classes.

Many recruiters will receive hundreds of resumes for just one or two jobs. How can an applicant make his or her resume stand out from the crowd?

This worksheet looks at advice for improving resumes. The layout of resumes and the information contained within will vary from country to country. However, these differences will make a good basis for discussion.

An example resume is included with the lesson for your students to analyse. Note that it has deliberate spelling / grammar mistakes!

This worksheet is written for upper-intermediate to advanced level classes.

Has mankind really landed on the moon? There are millions of people who think that NASA faked the footage. What do your students think of this, and other conspiracy theories?

This worksheet had a gap-fill reading, with vocabulary building exercises. Save lots of time for the discussion at the end. What are some common conspiracy theories in your students' countries?

This worksheet is written for upper-intermediate and advanced-level students.

With airports and flying becoming an ever-greater ordeal, train travel is an increasingly popular alternative. This worksheet compares the two methods of travel, and looks at the popularity of luxury train travel. After the lead-in discussion question, there is a (reasonably short) gap-fill reading, with follow-up exercises to help build your students' vocabulary. The worksheet rounds off with a set of discussion questions. This handout will provoke lots of discussion - as almost everyone has an opinion on trains and/or planes! It's great for intermediate levels and above.

Shopping habits are changing very quickly, with many people buying products online. This worksheet looks at the phenomenon known as 'showrooming' where people look at products in bricks-and-mortar stores, before buying the product online.

There is a gap-fill reading, with comprehension questions and the opportunity to debate some of the issues and hold a discussion on the changing face of shopping in the 21st century.

It's a great topic to get your students speaking. This worksheet is great for intermediate level and above.

You might also like to try our worksheet Don't Believe the Hype. It's a fun look at TV shopping!

It's a bit of a mystery. Why are crime rates falling in many countries, despite the economy being so bad?

This worksheet looks at the paradox of falling crime. Is the reason connected to teenagers being busier than they were 20 years ago?

There's a reading followed by vocabulary and phrase-building exercises and lots of discussion questions.

The text is written for intermediate-level classes - but can easily be used in other levels too.