Upper-Intermediate stories and articles

Country and western music is a major industry, especially in the United States, where it is popular all across the South. But its appeal is wider than just among cowboys. Although it was initially popular only among white people, that has changed in recent years as more and more radical artists have sung in the genre (860 words).

Clarence Day’s memoir of his self-important father, written just before the author’s death, was extremely popular. In this extract, he tells the reader about the evening when there was no ice at home and the dramatic steps his father took to solve the situation. A funny and affectionate portrait (2,140 words).

Mark Twain is famous for his acidic remarks about nearly every aspect of life and for a writing style that could make his readers laugh about the most serious subjects. Here he turns his attention to barbers (740 words).

This unhappy story is about two childhood friends – one charming and attractive and the other hard-working and loyal – who become business partners when they grow up. Sadly, jealousy gets in their way (4,050 words).

In this short tale, F. Scott Fitzgerald introduces us to a man who was once successful but has been away – we never find out where – and has only just returned to his old city. Here he takes his first walk in the streets that he once knew so well (1,100 words).

Sheepdogs. Why do they risk their lives to protect sheep? How does a sheepdog kill a wolf, one of the most dangerous animals in European forests? Why are some dogs great as guard dogs but cannot move sheep from one place to another? Read about shepherds’ relationship with their dogs and how they grow into such useful animals (1,050 words).

The mule is not a natural animal: it is a cross-breed between a donkey and a horse. It is useful to humankind though because it has the speed of one animal and the strength of the other. It is more intelligent than either of its parents, very loyal and extremely brave. Read about the remarkable history of this animal and its relationship to people (1,310 words).

Mrs. Baroda was not happy when her husband invited an old friend to spend some time at their country home. She had been looking forward to being alone with her husband after a busy few weeks spent with friends. To make matters worse, she was less impressed with the quiet man when he arrived – he did not seem to be half the man her husband had described. But then things changed … (1,300 words)

You can go anywhere in the world and listen to Bob Marley. His songs of peace and freedom, his belief in Rastafarianism and his smoking of cannabis have made him instantly recognisable everywhere. But reggae has a long history and has influenced many other kinds of music. (900 words)

When Fidel Castro overthrew the government in Cuba and began to make his revolutionary society, he faced a problem at once: how to start the people working and stop them dancing. And the dance was salsa. Although salsa originated in Central and Latin America, it has spread all over the world and influenced many other genres. Read more about it here (1,160 words).

A man and a married woman have been having an affair for a long time and the man is getting tired of the secretive lifestyle they must lead. While the woman loves him deeply, she is always anxious about being discovered because she cannot leave her husband and child. The an accident changes everything. (4,550 words)

This short story is about the close bond between a mother and her baby daughter. They often play hide and seek together but an old servant tells them that doing so will lead to great sadness. Of course, the mother doesn't believe her but she can't stop herself from becoming afraid. (2,900 words)

In the past, most people living quiet lives in the countryside never left the small towns they worked in. They lived, worked and expected to die near to the people they had known all their lives. The old widow in this story wanted the same but had to leave her farm to start a new life. (2,310 words)

This excellent short story explores the injustices that slavery created. A brave lawman refuses to allow his neighbours to hang an Afro-American suspected of committing murder in a small town after the American Civil War. However, the sheriff has a secret in his past that the crime is about to reveal. (5,000 words)

A statue of a prince who lived a very careless life, interested only in luxury and pleasure, becomes aware of the sufferings of the poor from the top of his pillar and decides he wants to help. Luckily, he finds a bird to carry out his plans. (3,050 words)

Sherlock Holmes is not usually interested in the stories of young ladies. As he says himself, Dr. Watson is more of an expert in that area. However, in this story, he makes an exception because he is worried about the girl’s safety. Find out how Holmes and Watson save her from a clever trick and some very nasty characters. (5,365 words)

This sad but gripping story is about an old woman who, all her life, has been the victim of poverty and unkindness. She is invisible, living outside her community, expecting nothing and getting only that. (3,420 words)

Holmes is called to prove the innocence of a young man accused of murdering his father. The case seems clear-cut but, of course, there is more to it than is immediately obvious and he needs to investigate the past of the victim in Australia to discover the truth. (5,310 words)

Honour is a way of life in islands like Corsica. Hospitality is given to anyone who needs it but the treatment of people who break the unwritten rules is harsh and unforgiving. So what will the man in this story do when he returns home to find that his son has shamed him. (3,015 words)

Chekhov's tale of an unlikely marriage between an older, poorly educated man and the beautiful daughter of a church caretaker who tries to make sure she can stay in her home after his death. The husband is jealous of his attractive wife and convinces himself that she can change the weather to get young men to visit their home. (3,290 words)

Saki was a master of short, comic but sometimes cruel stories which made fun of the English upper-middle classes. Here, he describes the atmosphere between a married couple after an argument. But there is a surprising twist in the end which might shock you. (740 words)

A great comic tale in which Saki describes the complicated plans made by an Englishwoman as she tries to go one better than her friend who has had an exciting adventure. The plan is to impress her friends by shooting a tiger but it ends up costing her more than she'd expected. (1,065 words).

Saki is the master of comic short stories which have surprising – even shocking – endings. Here, a young man who is staying in the country because of a nervous illness visits a neighbour. The young girl he meets though has an unusual story to tell him that only make his nervous problems much worse. (1,020 words)

We know that Dr. Watson always helps Sherlock Holmes in his cases. However, in this story it is Watson who brings the case to the detective’s attention. Once again, things are not as they appear at first sight and Holmes soon begins to understand the mystery. (5,015 words)

The Fall of Byzantine Constantinople and the Birth of Ottoman Istanbul. Istanbul is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. In 1453 it was called Constantinople but then Sultan Mehmet took it after a terrible battle that lasted many weeks and ended a thousand years of Byzantine rule. (1,520 words)

The ferret has sharp teeth and is very aggressive. It was used for many years to help humans hunt for food and to control vermin. It is not needed so much for that nowadays and is even considered a pest itself. An unfortunate outcome for an animal that has been our friend for so long. (910 words)

Genghis Khan’s name is associated in the West with fear and it's true that he would kill all the men in any city that refused to surrender to him and take the women and children as slaves. But he also built an army and an empire based on loyalty and fairness stretching from Korea to Poland. (1,320 words)

George Washington fought for the British Army against the French but fifteen years later, he became the general who forced the British out of America. Why did this loyal supporter of the British change his mind? (1,070 words)

Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped when she was a girl of eleven years of age and became the mother of her captor’s children. She lived in a tent in his garden for nearly twenty years until a suspicious university administrator called the police. This is her astonishing story. Read about her and the man who kept her prisoner. (1,550 words)

Jeremy Bamber was sent to prison for the multiple murders of his family in 1986. It was a nasty and strange case. There were jealousies and rivalries and the police made some very odd mistakes. Bamber still insists he is innocent . (1,390 words)

One of Katherine Mansfield's finest short stories that highlights the contempt with which the upper-middle class viewed the poor. While preparations for the garden party are tasteful and well-considered, the more important sensitivity to the welfare of their poor neighbours is lacking. (4,165 words)

Sherlock Holmes is visited by a man who tells him about a society that financially supported people with red hair in pointless but lucrative employment but then disappeared owing him money. Holmes decides to get to the bottom of the mystery. (4,445 words).

Sherlock Holmes is asked to solve a mystery that saves a dead man’s reputation and shows that his son is innocent of the terrible murder of a drunken old sea captain. But what secret do the lives of a ruined banker and a retired sailor share? (5,490 words)

Andrei Chikatilo murdered more than fifty young girls and boys all over the Soviet Union. The police arrested him once but had to let him go. How did he escape justice for so long and what made this man kill so often and so many? (1,550 words)

John Haycraft was a pioneer in the field of teaching English to non-native students of the language. He believed that communication between nations makes the world a more interesting and safer place. He is not a very well-known figure: he did not win wars; govern countries or star in films. If you are learning English though, he has probably had an effect on your life. (1,385 words)

A man must make his way with his dog to safety across a frozen Alaskan wasteland but the temperature is dropping fast and he must stay dry and warm. Disaster strikes and the man and the dog must fight to survive. (4660 words)

Oscar Wilde is possibly, after Shakespeare, the most famous dramatist in the English language. This is not due of the quality of his plays, although they are very clever and funny, but because of the scandal his relationship with a young aristocrat caused and his imprisonment. Despite his fame, he died poverty-stricken, alone and unable to see his children. (1,750 words)

A family struggling with poverty places its hopes in an uncle who left his home country many years before. Although he had always been the black sheep of the family, he sends news that he is now a successful businessman and will soon return to make the family rich again. But when they see him… (2,000 words)

Voodoo is the subject of many films and the origin of zombies, the ‘undead’ who walk the land after they have been buried. It demands human blood and includes strange rituals. Even now, it has more followers than ever. (1,320 words)

A top lawyer leaves his job, wife and home after he suddenly loses his memory. He has had a normal life but only really living for his work. Suddenly, all that changes when he wakes up on a train with thousands of dollars in his pocket. (3,280 words)

An ancient family is haunted by a wizard's curse after the murder of his son in the thirteenth century. Hundreds of years later, the last Lord spends his life trying to find the secret of the curse and so prevent his death on his 32nd birthday. (2,557 words)

In the eighteenth century, a rich man of mixed Indian and European blood, rebelled against the Spanish rulers of Latin America. We will never know exactly why. Perhaps he was angry that he could never be seen as one of the leaders of the land – because of his Indian blood. We know that he believed he was descended from the first great Inca king, Tupac Amaru, and took his name. But his rebellion was a bloody and racist one that caused the deaths of thousands. Read about him here (1,400 words)

W. S. Gilbert’s story of a poor and sick man, living alone in Venice and looked after by a housekeeper, is a beautiful love story. Forced to spend his days lying down next to his window, he watches a young girl year after year in the reflection she makes in the water of one of Venice’s canals. Slowly, they become friends and the man starts to feel love for the girl – a love he believes she shares, despite everything (1,700 words)

Tea has a long history in Asia but was first brought from China to Europe about four hundred years ago. In the beginning, merchants put ready-made tea into barrels and then shipped it from China to Europe. It took them quite a long time to realise that they could pack the leaves and add water back home! After water, tea is the most popular drink in the world, this is its extraordinary history (1,140 words).

Turgenev tells the tale of a provincial doctor who, glad of the chance of educated company in the village where he lives, tells his patient the tragic story of the love of his life (3,535 words).

W. H. Davies led an action-packed life and one that made his family very unhappy as a young man. He got into trouble with the police, lost a leg when he was trying to jump onto a moving train without buying a ticket and lived as a homeless person all over Britain. And all the time he wrote poetry. Read his story (1,425 words).

If you love chocolate – if you are a chocoholic – you will be fascinated by this article. It looks at the history of this drink and sweet, its almost religious quality in Central America, its violent arrival in Europe and the industry that it has generated today. A delicious delight for all chocolate lovers (1,125 words).

Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in the world and makes a fortune for the industry that promotes and sells it. But what were its origins? In fact, it started as a way of making water safe to drink. Drunkenness is not a modern problem: two hundred years ago, men, women and children drank beer at breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is the fascinating story of this ever-popular drink (910 words).

This tragic tale describes the remorse that a young widow feels when she looks back on how she treated her husband and her regret at having longed for another man. It is moral tale, subtly weaved together, that suggests we do not always benefit from what we crave. (5,310 words)

In the early twentieth century, a woman who could not find herself a husband in England was not complete. In this typical Mansfield story, a teacher who is engaged to a younger man gets a letter from him containing unexpected bad news. (1,510 words)

A young widow puts all her energy into her baby son and making the money needed for them to eat. Help comes from an old bachelor who marries her but is jealous of the smiles she only gives her son. He gives her a new child but she dies soon after his birth. Years of unfair treatment follow but eventually the first child proves his worth. (3,930 words)

Mata Hari is one of the most famous spies in history and she has become a symbol of sexual temptation. In the end, she was shot as a spy in the First World War and died bravely. But what made her the woman she was? (1,280 words)

Whilst running the anti-Soviet section in British intelligence, Kim Philby was also a general in the KGB. He was a double agent and he became the most notorious Soviet spy in British history. (1,265 words)

This is a classic horror story about a charm brought to England by a soldier returning from India. It gives its owner three wishes but with awful consequence. (3,345 words)

O. Henry knew about robbing banks and going to prison, having done so himself. Here he tells a story about a young bank robber who, after many successful jobs and some time in prison, changes his lifestyle so that he can marry. However, he’s soon pulled back into crime – but not through his own fault. (2,265 words)

The aquatic ape theory is an alternative to the savannah theory to explain how and why apes developed into human beings. It is a controversial subject that will anger people who believe we were created as we are now but it may also annoy others that have very definite opinions about human evolution! (1,110 words)

A fascinating introduction to the camel. Camels have been used to help people travel and survive in the desert and they were used extensively during the two world wars in the last century. They are raced and people pay huge sums of money for the most beautiful and fastest animals. Their use is declining but they are great survivors. (1,320 words)

The Vietnam War is remembered as the war that the United States lost at the height of its strength as a superpower. For the Vietnamese it was another episode in a long history of fighting invaders including the Chinese, French and Japanese. (1,360 words)

Even by modern norms, Mansfield led a shocking life: she had relations with two brothers and became engaged to the younger one when the older had rejected her; and she couldn't live with or without her husband. This is the story of her brief, stormy and very creative life. (1,400 words)

Wine comes in many different forms. Red, white and rosé, even ‘green’ wine, are all popular. For the wine lover, a good bottle is not only a drink, it is an art, perfection in a bottle. Wine has been been used in different ways for many years. This is wine's history (1,675 words)

The Kennedy family is a political dynasty in America. J. F. Kennedy was the much-loved President who was assassinated in the early ‘60s and his younger brother, Bobby, shared the same cruel end. Perhaps, Teddy Kennedy might well have become President but a strange incident involving the death of a young woman prevented him doing so. (1,315 words)

In many cities, like London, pigeons are seen as a pest but people and pigeons have a long history together. They were used to send messages and race over long distances and people still pay high prices for the most beautiful and fastest specimens. (1,170 words)

Yerba mate is a drink which originated in Latin America. It was so popular with the Catholic monks who came to the continent to spread their religion that they made the local Indians rich. But people were jealous of the Indians’ ability to grow the trees and a terrible war began. (920 words).

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. It was first grown in Ethiopia, which is still the home of some of the best coffee in the world. It then crossed the Red Sea into Arabia and in the eighteenth century Europe, where it led to the development of the sugar industry and stock markets. (1,155 words)

Until recently, blood was simply blood. But we have discovered different blood types and that can literally save our lives when we need transfusions. All blood can be categorised as Rhesus positive or negative, but we don't know why. We also know nothing about why human beings have four blood types but cows have 800. This article explores the mysteries of blood. (865 words)

A brief history of London's past and its present. Its transport system and its geography, its food and weather, but most of all its people. (1,145 words)

Old age is not just a biological state but also a social concept. What was considered ‘old’ thirty years ago is a normal life span today and dying at a great age in Bangladesh might be a tragically young death in Japan. Governments want us to work longer but employers often want young recruits. Read about some of these issues in this article (820 words).

Rock and roll means many different things to people over the world. Although it might be difficult to define exactly what it is, one thing is sure: it changed the face of modern music. But it also changed the world. It was the first time that music was written for young people and tried to express their aims and feelings. Read about the history of rock and roll. (1,360 words)