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Drifting Cowboy: Hank Williams

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Public Step 2 Stories Top Picks February 20, 2020 0

Hank would never make it to the concert. There were too many problems. It was icy cold outside. He sat under a cover in the back of his light blue Cadillac car. He was heading to the city of Canton, Ohio, to give a big concert on New Year’s... Read more

The Father of Fantasy Stories

A3-Beginner++Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 3 Stories February 19, 2020

ReadOasis Step 3 An Image of a Hobbit Frodo is a little man. Well, he's actually a hobbit. A hobbit is like a man, but only smaller. Frodo is small, but he has a big heart. He also has a big job. He holds a ring. It's a magic... Read more

Slumdog Millionaire

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Movies Step 2A Protected Step 2 Stories February 18, 2020 0

ReadOasis Step 2 The film Slumdog Millionaire is about an 18-year-old boy from Mumbai, India. He comes from a poor part of the city. And he wins a large cash prize on a TV game show. But after he wins, he is arrested by the police. The police think... Read more

Henri Rousseau, Artist

Arts BNC Levels Protected Step 2 Stories Times February 17, 2020 1

ReadOasis Step 2 Henri Rousseau was born on May 21, 1844. He was a famous French painter. At first, he worked as a government official. But he retired in 1893 so he could focus on painting. He created bold and colorful paintings. His paintings showed imaginative dreams and unusual... Read more

Beyond the Freezing Point (Ayako Miura)

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 3 Stories February 17, 2020 0

ReadOasis Step 3 (Part 1) It was much later that I finally learned what a dark age it was. It’s after you know the light that you recognize darkness. You cannot know darkness when you’re in the middle of it. Ayako Miura (1922-1999) Up to the end of World... Read more

I See You — Avatar

A3-Beginner++Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Listen!Movies Step 2B Protected Step 2 Stories February 11, 2020 1

ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 1) Your name is Jake. You are a soldier. Since you lost the feeling in your legs, life has been awkward. But you got used to it. And when your brother died, your heart stopped feeling some, too. "Get used to it," you think. But... Read more

Master of Words: Bob Dylan

A3-Beginner++Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Music Step 2A Protected Step 2 Stories Story February 11, 2020

ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 1) It was January 1961. In the cold north of Minnesota, a young man of 19 years packed his bags. He was going to New York City. By car, the trip would take over 18 hours. And he was travelling by his thumb. In other... Read more

Photo Art: Framing (2 in a Series)

A3-Beginner++Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 2 Stories February 10, 2020 2

ReadOasis Step 2 A while ago, a friend of mine bought a new camera. He soon discovered the joy of taking pictures. In a matter of months, he was taking hundreds of pictures every day. At first, many of his shots were not very good. But he continued to... Read more

Violent Games and Young Minds

Arts B2-Intermediate+BNC Levels CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Sciences Step 3 Stories February 4, 2020 0

ReadOasis Step 3 Millions of gamers were waiting for the day. On November 10, 2009, the game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" was released. In the first 24 hours, about 4.7 million copies were sold. And the first day of revenue in the US and UK reached $310... Read more

Photo Art: Composition (1 in a Series)

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Step 2 Stories Top Picks February 3, 2020 2

ReadOasis Step 2 Cameras and photos are everywhere today. For example, Flickr is a photo sharing site. People put thousands of photos on Flickr every minute. And some of these photos are excellent. The photographer Ansel Adams once said this. "You don't take a photograph, you make it." This... Read more

Word Painter: Ernest Hemingway

A3-Beginner++Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 2 Stories February 2, 2020 0

ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 1) Hemingway Collection, Kennedy Presidential Museum “A writer is always alone, always an outsider," Ernest Hemingway said. Hemingway created many characters in his books. Some people said that Hemingway was his own best creation. Ernest Hemingway was born in 1891. He grew up in Oak... Read more

Lady Sings the Blues

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Movies Step 2B Music Step 2A Protected Step 2 Stories Top Picks January 28, 2020 1

ReadOasis Step 2(Part 1) 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... Read more

Mary Had a Little Lamb

A2-Beginner+Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 2 Stories January 27, 2020 1

ReadOasis Step 2 Thomas Edison with Phonograph Mary Had a Little Lamb" is a famous children's song. It was written by Sarah Hale and first published on May 24, 1830. The song is based on real events. There was a girl named Mary Sawyer. She had a pet lamb,... Read more

The Adventures of a Folk Singer

Arts B3-Intermediate++BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Listen!Music Step 3B Protected Step 3 Stories Times January 25, 2020 0

ReadOasis Step 3 (Part 1) "I think a poet is anybody who wouldn't call himself a poet." - Bob Dylan It was January 1961. In the cold north of Minnesota, a young man of 19 years packed his bags and his guitar. He was crossing 1,900 kilometers to New... Read more

The Artful Geisha (Step 2)

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Culture Step 2A Listen!Protected Step 2 Stories Styles January 23, 2020 1

ReadOasis Step 2 Geisha are traditional female entertainers from Japan. They are skilled at various Japanese arts, such as traditional music, dancing, and poetry. The word "geisha" comes from (GEI) meaning "art" and (SHA) meaning "person." In this sense, a geisha is an artist. In the 1920's, about 80,000... Read more

The Treasure of the Blues

Arts BNC Levels C1-Advanced CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Step 5 Stories January 22, 2020 0

ReadOasis Step 5 Blues Legend Robert Johnson The blues is a great treasure of American musical culture. It stands as the foundation for practically every form of American music in the 20th century, including gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and hip hop. Blues music has its... Read more

Walt Disney’s Impossible Dream

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Movies Step 2A Protected Step 2 Stories Times January 21, 2020 4

ReadOasis Step 2 In 1934, Walt Disney began plans to make a movie. He wanted to create the first full-length animated film. But when people heard about his idea, they said it was a mistake. They thought it would destroy the Disney studio. Even Disney's brother and wife tried... Read more

Try with Ukulele

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Step 2 Stories January 21, 2020

ReadOasis Step 2 At age 18, Mandy Harvey lost most of her ability to hear. As a child and during her teenage years, Mandy loved to sing. But she stopped singing for a time after she went deaf. But then she learned to feel a song's beat through the... Read more

The Goodbye Bacon Blues

A2-Beginner+Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 3 January 9, 2020

ReadOasis Step 3 With apologies to all my pig farming and hog farming friends, I wrote this song, a blues song about bacon. Today I read the news. They say that bacon is bad for you. For effect, it’s like a cigarette. If you eat a lot, you'll be... Read more

Johnny Cash: The Man in Black (Step 2)

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Step 2 Stories January 9, 2020

ReadOasis Step 2 Johnny started singing, but he looked uncomfortable. The audition was not going well. Sam Phillips, the producer, listened politely. But he didn't smile. Johnny kept singing, but with no confidence. Then Mr. Phillips said, "Hold up!" Johnny and his friends stopped playing. Phillips said, "I hate... Read more