Make your life easier by getting your Cambridge Advanced C1 exam students to both read regularly in English outside of class and improve their knowledge of a wide range of vocabulary and topics with the articles in our PDF eBook.


We all know that reading regularly in English is one of the best ways to get our students to improve their level in English (it broadens their vocabulary, it reinforces their knowledge of grammatical structures etc...). The problem is getting our students to actually do it.

In every class I've taught, I've always stressed to them the importance of reading as much as possible outside of class in English. Unfortunately, apart from the most dedicated, few seldom do.

If you are an English learner, click here to learn about the student version of this eBook.

Looking for other levels? Explore our B2 Level Reading eBook and C2 Level Reading eBook.

What they need to read

They not only need to read things which are at the right level for what they'll find used in the exam, but also on the topics which they find used in it as well. The more knowledge they have of a topic, the easier it will be to do if they find it used in the exam.

Why they don't

It can be easy to put the blame on our students for not doing this. And it is true that many of them (like all of us) can be either too lazy or are just too busy to get around to reading things in English outside the class.

But finding the appropriate things to read is actually quite difficult and time-consuming. Most of the articles they'll find on the web which are for improving English will be too easy for them, too short or boring. And many of the pieces of writing meant for native speakers will be just a little too difficult and confusing for their level.

Even using AI to generate reading articles and exercises in English to prepare them for the exam is not ideal. Firstly, because it will just provide them with its adapted version of already existing material; and secondly, and more importantly, it won't give them articles on all the topics (and there are many) that they are likely to find used in the Cambridge Advanced C1 exam.

A solution

To solve this problem for my own students, I decided to make my own material for them to read outside of class. Articles and pieces of writing which didn't confuse or frustrate them, but were still challenging enough that they were still improving their level of English when reading them. Articles which were both interesting to read and on the different topics which they would find used in the exam.

It took me over a year to create all of this reading material and to get it just right. And the result of all this hard work is this eBook.


What's in the eBook

To start with, this edition of the PDF eBook has been specifically designed to be used by teachers with their students. There are 60 printable reading exercises and each exercise includes:

  • A long text (approximately 1000 words)
  • A vocabulary exercise
  • A sheet for students to create sentences with the vocabulary
  • 5 questions for you to ask your students about the topic they've read

Click here to see an example of one of the texts from the eBook

Click here to see a list of the titles of the text of the 60 reading exercises

The 60 texts in the eBook

  1. Why do Americans have less days of holiday than everybody else?
  2. Is it ethical for football players to earn more than doctors?
  3. Why South Africa has an obsession with guns
  4. Will robots make many of us unemployed soon?
  5. Why does India perform so badly at the Olympics?
  6. The decline of America's Motor City, Detroit
  7. Why we see so many products in Bond films
  8. Why the Chinese are learning western manners
  9. Is Artificial Intelligence really a threat to us all?
  10. Is seawater a solution to falling supplies of drinking water?
  11. The meat that is killing people in Tonga
  12. The history of Christmas traditions
  13. Is it good to give gifts at Christmas?
  14. Should countries open their borders to everybody?
  15. Are there downsides to being beautiful?
  16. Air pollution is becoming one of the world's biggest killers
  17. Women live longer than men, but why?
  18. The consequences today of the Chernobyl disaster
  19. What are the reasons why the British say 'sorry' so much?
  20. Your French wine probably comes from Spain
  21. Is nationalism a bad thing?
  22. Five things you can try to sleep better at night
  23. Is climate change going to affect what we eat?
  24. 7 ways casinos keep people gambling
  25. Why putting so many people in prison in America hasn't worked
  26. Nine things to make better and happier relationships
  27. How bribery and corruption damage business
  28. Thatcher is to blame for poor white kids failing part 1
  29. Thatcher is to blame for poor white kids failing part 2
  30. Stopping yellow fever in Angola
  31. Can you become an Olympian if you practise enough?
  32. Destroying everything you own for art
  33. We might be able to eradicate mosquitoes soon, but should we do it?
  34. Are selfies making us better or worse people?
  35. Are genetically modified crops good or bad?
  36. Why many of us no longer believe what experts say
  37. What actually caused the dinosaurs to become extinct?
  38. Is BASE jumping from tall buildings stupid or not?
  39. Stopping climate change. Who should pay?
  40. Are there too many university graduates in Britain?
  41. Bridge of Spies film review
  42. Four things that men can do to be a feminist at work
  43. What to do if a global disaster happens
  44. Is failure fundamental for being creative?
  45. A tale of a mother's loss and guilt
  46. The problems about YouTube replacing children's TV
  47. What to do in Madrid in 48 hours
  48. Is this the end of food?
  49. What makes a happier workforce
  50. Are vertical cities going to save us?
  51. The life of a dancer
  52. Would it be a good thing if everyone went vegan?
  53. Changing your career and life
  54. Walking the Camino Inglés
  55. Why are stories so alike?
  56. How wolves saved the Yellowstone park’s ecosystem
  57. The discovery that rewrote history
  58. Why you should love art
  59. Shooting an elephant part 1
  60. Shooting an elephant part 2

Close the exercise list

In addition to this, you'll also find in the eBook a tried and tested method for using these reading exercises with your students.


How the eBook will help you and your students

The material in this eBook will improve your students' English in a number of different areas:

Improve their reading

Each reading exercise has a text that has been specifically written and adapted (so it is still challenging, but not difficult for them to read and understand) for teachers to use with their students studying for the Cambridge Advanced C1 (CAE) exam. The texts cover a wide range of different topics (from science to art and everything in between) and this will broaden your students' knowledge of English vocabulary.

Improve their vocabulary

In addition to the text, each reading exercise contains a vocabulary exercise. In this, your students will learn the meaning of 7 carefully selected phrases and words from the text. These are words and phrases which I have noticed over the 10 years that I have been teaching English that students at this level commonly don't know, don't use or use incorrectly.

Improve their performance in the Cambridge C1 exam

For students preparing for the Cambridge Advanced C1 exam, having a good knowledge of diverse topics and the English vocabulary used in them will make doing an exercise on a topic a lot easier to do if they encounter it in the exam. And this eBook has articles on all the main topic areas which they'll find used in the exam.

Make them remember the vocabulary

It would be pointless for your students to learn the meaning of these words and phrases and then forget what they mean. To ensure that they do remember them, each reading exercise comes with a sheet for your students to write a sentence in their own words for each of the 7 words and phrases they learnt in the vocabulary exercise.

It'll help their speaking as well

These reading exercises have also been designed to improve your students' ability and confidence in speaking in English as well. The topic of each reading exercise has been selected to make students interested in what they are reading about. Included in the eBook is a tried and tested method for using the reading exercises for getting your students to talk together in class, not just about the text, but about the topic in general. To help you do this, you'll find each reading exercise has a list of at least 5 questions which you can ask them after they have done it.

You'll be surprised how much your students' speaking in English will improve after doing these reading exercises for just a few months.

Make your life easier

The more your students read and speak in English, the quicker they improve. This makes happier students, happier classes and higher grades when they eventually do the exam. All of which makes your life as a teacher a lot easier.


Get your copy now

The cost for all of this material is €17 (around $20). When you take into consideration that the material is designed to be used for a full academic year and how much it will help both you and your students, it is cheap for the price.

I have been using this material and method with my own students for over six years now and I'm very happy with the results I've seen. Not only with seeing how it has improved their level of English (and consequently how well they do in the exam), but also seeing how they enjoy speaking together and expressing their opinions about the topics of the reading exercises that they have done.

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