Courses | ReadOasis

The Biggest Band (Step 3)

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ReadOasis Step 3 It was a hot August night in New York City, 1965. Two thousand policemen in charge of security watched anxiously as 55,000 fans filled Shea Stadium. But this was not for a baseball game; it was for the first ever stadium concert in the history of... Read more

The Guitar Hero

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ReadOasis Step 2 Humans have played instruments like guitars for 5,000 years. The English word "guitar" originally may come from the Indian word, "sitar." Today guitars play a main part in jazz, blues, country, rock, and pop music. They are also used for solo classical music. In popular culture,... Read more

On the Road Again (Step 2)

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ReadOasis Step 2Willie Nelson's Guitar "Trigger"Little Willie was born into hard times. On October 29, 1929, the American economy crashed. It was called Black Tuesday. Many people lost all their money. By Willie’s day of birth in 1933, around 25% of Americans had lost their jobs. People were hopeless,... Read more

The First Lady of Song

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ReadOasis Step 3 After her mother died, Ella had a lot of trouble. Her grades dropped at school. She couldn't find a good place to live. She became an orphan, a child whose parents are dead and gone. Eventually, she was sent to the New York Training School for... Read more

W.C. Handy: Father of the Blues (Step 2)

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By Maria SonoraReadOasis Step 2 "Then I saw the beauty of primitive music." W.C. Handy, Father of the Blues W.C. Handy grew up in the southern part of the United States, in a small town in Alabama. His father was a church leader, and Handy was raised in the... Read more

The Duke of Cowboy Actors

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ReadOasis Step 2 May 26th marks the birth of the great American film star John Wayne. He was born in the US state of Iowa in 1907 with the name Marion Morrison. His father’s poor health caused the family to move to Southern California. And there, Wayne attended school... Read more

Call of Duty Game Breaks Records Again

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ReadOasis Step 2 The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported this gaming news on November 12, 2010, summarized here at ReadOasis Step 2. The video game Call of Duty: Black Ops reached first-day sales of $360 million in the U.S. and U.K. The game is made by the company Activision.... Read more

Music as Medicine

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ReadOasis Step 3 (Part 1) You are watching TV. On the screen, you see the two strong hands of a man. In his left hand, he holds a book of matches. In his right hand, he holds a single match. With his right hand, he strikes the match on... Read more

Serious About Humor (Step 2)

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ReadOasis Step 2 It's early in the morning. A funny looking man is getting ready for work. He looks up at the clock on the wall. Then his eyes pop wide open. He's running late! He hurries to the kitchen. He opens the coffee jar and fills his spoon... Read more

Experience Flow

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ReadOasis Step 2 Shaun White is a world famous snowboarder. Watch him slide down the pipe in slow motion. He goes up one side and flies into the air at an extreme height. Time stands still. Coming down, he gains speed and lands smoothly. Then he rises to the... Read more

Lady Sings the Blues (Part 1)

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ReadOasis Step 2 Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees These sad words open the song “Strange Fruit.” The song was written by Abel Meeropol, and it was... Read more

Isaac Watts: Father of Hymns (Step 3)

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ReadOasis Step 3 By Maria Sonora A hymn is a song of praise to God. In many cultures, people sing hymns at church services and on special celebrations like Christmas. Many prominent musicians today, such as Beyonce Knowles, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash, and Carrie Underwood mastered singing and performing... Read more

$80,000 for One Song

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ReadOasis Step 2 The room is dark. You are alone. You are drinking a coke and downloading some songs from the Internet. Then you hear a crash. Your heart stops as you hear a man shout. "This is the police!" You catch your breath and say, "What?" Then another... Read more

The Motown Sound (Step 3)

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ReadOasis Step 3 The Motown Museum (Wikipedia) Soul music combines rhythm and blues and gospel. Like the blues, soul arose out of the black experience in America, and soul musicians took these styles out of the black church and into the world and the streets. They confidently and proudly... Read more

W.C. Handy: Father of the Blues (Step 3)

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ReadOasis Step 3 "Then I saw the beauty of primitive music." W.C. Handy, Father of the Blues W.C. Handy at Age 19 W.C. Handy grew up in a small town in Alabama in the southern part of the US. His father was the pastor of a church, and Handy... Read more

The Longest Railway

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ReadOasis Step 2 VOA Learning English reports that China has paid for the longest railway in the world. It's 13,000 kilometers long! The longest railway in the world is now open. In December, a train carrying products from China arrived in Spain’s capital, Madrid. The railway is one of the most recent transportation projects that China has finan... Please login to read the rest of the story, or join ReadOasis today! Read more

A Musical Money-Making Machine

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ReadOasis Step 3 Carrie Underwood by Eva Rinaldi (Creative Commons) Carrie was a country girl from Checotah, Oklahoma. She lived on a farm, and in the mornings, she would help her father feed the cows. Carrie loved to sing. She started singing at church when she was 3 years... Read more

Bill Gates: A Model for Business?

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By Tek Smith ReadOasis Step 2 As a young man, Bill Gates had the idea to make a company. In 1975, he left Harvard University, and he started Microsoft with his friend Paul Allen. By 2007, Microsoft employed 78,000 people in 105 countries. Today about 90% of the world’s... Read more

Making Work Fun: The Levity Effect (Step 2)

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ReadOasis Step 2 A manager at a company was interviewing a job candidate. The manager said, “We need a very responsible person for this job. We need someone who can take charge.” The candidate’s eyes lit up, and he answered with great confidence. “Sir, your search ends here! I’m... Read more

A Wee (Wii) Gaming Machine

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ReadOasis Step 2 Nintendo makes video games and gaming machines. It is one of the largest gaming companies in the world. Nintendo's popularity took off in 2006 with the release of the Nintendo Wii. The portable Nintendo DS is also extremely popular. In 2007, the company had an income... Read more