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  1. Lesson 1 – Introduction & Eight Fascinating Facts About Coffee
    3 Activities
  2. Lesson 2 – Nine Jobs That No Longer Exist
    3 Activities
  3. Lesson 3 – Amazing Celebrations Around the World
    3 Activities
  4. Lesson 4 – Amelia Earhart: America’s Pioneering Female Pilot
    3 Activities
  5. Lesson 5 – It’s the Best Time to Be Alive
    3 Activities
  6. Lesson 6 – Biggest Business Blunders
    3 Activities
  7. Lesson 7 – Conspiracy Theories That Were True
    3 Activities
  8. Lesson 8 – Cultural Perceptions of Time
    3 Activities
  9. Lesson 9 – Cyberbullying On the Rise
    3 Activities
  10. Lesson 10 – Development of Artificial Intelligence
    3 Activities
  11. Lesson 11 – Drowning in Debt
    3 Activities
  12. Lesson 12 – All About Esperanto
    3 Activities
  13. Lesson 13 – Finland’s Approach to Education
    3 Activities
  14. Lesson 14 – Common Health and Exercise Myths Debunked
    3 Activities
  15. Lesson 15 – Helicopter Parents
    3 Activities
  16. Lesson 16 – History’s Heroic Dogs
    3 Activities
  17. Lesson 17 – Interesting Recent Inventions
    3 Activities
  18. Lesson 18 – The Dark Side of International Adoption
    3 Activities
  19. Lesson 19 – Meditation: Ancient and Modern
    3 Activities
  20. Lesson 20 – How to Stay Motivated
    3 Activities
  21. Lesson 21 – Oprah Winfrey
    3 Activities
  22. Lesson 22 – Parenting Styles Around the World
    3 Activities
  23. Lesson 23 – Disastrous Dating Pet Peeves
    3 Activities
  24. Lesson 24 – The Challenge of Reducing Poverty
    3 Activities
  25. Lesson 25 – Rejection Therapy
    3 Activities
  26. Lesson 26 – Seven Unusual Hotels
    3 Activities
  27. Lesson 27 – Three Fascinating Shipwrecks
    3 Activities
  28. Lesson 28 – Songs That Changed the World
    3 Activities
  29. Lesson 29 – SpaceX and Its Plan to Colonize Mars
    3 Activities
  30. Lesson 30 – Four Strange Sports
    3 Activities
  31. Lesson 31 – Fame After 40
    3 Activities
  32. Lesson 32 – The Origins of Disney
    3 Activities
  33. Lesson 33 – The Psychology of Advertising
    3 Activities
  34. Lesson 34 – What’s the Deal with Tipping?
    3 Activities
  35. Lesson 35 – Famous Unsolved Crimes
    3 Activities
  36. Lesson 36 – History of U.S.-Cuba Relations
    3 Activities
  37. Lesson 37 – Vaccines
    3 Activities
  38. Lesson 38 – Stories Behind Famous World Landmarks
    3 Activities
  39. Lesson 39 – World’s Most Expensive Foods
    3 Activities
  40. Lesson 40 – Young Entrepreneurs
    3 Activities
  41. Your feedback & Next steps
Lesson 1 of 41
In Progress

Lesson 1 – Introduction & Eight Fascinating Facts About Coffee

Watch the introduction video to learn how to get the most benefit from these lessons!

Click to read transcript of introduction video

Welcome to the Reading Course! I’m excited to help you improve your reading skills and vocabulary.

Here are a few tips for getting the most benefit out of the course. Remember, your English will improve the most if you do ALL the exercises included in each lesson.

STEP 1: READ THE ARTICLE AND LEARN THE VOCABULARY

Read the lesson text. I’ve included definitions of the words in bold. The definitions are in green (if you are reading the lesson online) or in the sidebar (if you are reading the lesson PDF).

If you want to see more examples of a particular word, I recommend looking it up on thefreedictionary.com or sentence.yourdictionary.com. (However, keep in mind that some words have multiple definitions – so the one I give you directly in the lesson is the one that best applies to the use of the word in the text).

Each article has five words that are NOT defined – they are in highlighted in yellow (if you are reading the lesson PDF). DON’T look these words up in the dictionary! These are words you will learn in the “Discover New Words” quiz in the worksheet.

STEP 2: DO THE COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

These are located right underneath the text, and they test how well you understood what you read. It’s OK to go back and look at the article in order to help you answer these questions. Make sure to click “Finish quiz” and then “View Questions” to check your answers!

Step 3: The Discover New Words Quiz

The next activity is the Discover New Words Quiz. You’ll see a sentence from the article including one of the yellow words that was not defined, and you need to guess the best possible definition of the word from three options. This helps you learn to figure out new words from context. It’s OK if you don’t get all the answers right… the goal is simply to practice!

Again, click “Finish quiz” and “view questions” to check your answers to “Discover New Words” before you continue to the next exercise.

Step 4: Vocabulary Quiz

This is a chance for you to use the vocabulary from the article by putting the words into new sentences. The more you practice these new words, the easier it will be to remember them.

Just type a word from the box into the correct sentence. Again, you can check your own answers by clicking “Finish quiz” and “View questions.”

STEP 5: WRITING TASK WITH FEEDBACK

There’s a topic/question for you to respond. You don’t need to write a lot – two or three short paragraphs is fine! Type your writing into the form on the lesson page and click “Send my answers.”

The Espresso English teaching team will correct students’ writing in the order we receive it. We’ll usually reply within a couple days, depending on how much homework we have to correct.

QUESTIONS? PROBLEMS?

If you have a question about a lesson, or if you’re having technical problems, send me a message and I’m happy to help. I hope you enjoy the course!


Then continue to Lesson 1 below!

Download: Text / Audio

Remember: The words in yellow you will learn in the Discover New Words quiz.

Read the article and learn vocabulary

Many of us cherish our morning cup of coffee. The aroma rouses us from sleep and launches us into a more productive day. The taste is comforting and invigorating. We cradle the warm mug in our hands as though it were a treasure. But how much do we know about coffee?

You might appreciate your coffee even more after learning these interesting tidbits about its history and benefits.

1. The coffee bean is extracted from a red berry

The coffee plant is a shrub or small tree that produces edible red fruit, called cherries. Each cherry contains two seeds – and it is these that become our esteemed coffee beans. The cherries are picked, dried, and peeled down to the green seed, which is then roasted at a temperature of 500 degrees until it doubles in size.

  • shrub = a bush, a type of vegetation that grows low to the ground
  • esteemed = respected
  • roasted = cooked with dry heat (no water)

2. Goats discovered caffeine

Legend has it that the stimulant effects of caffeine were discovered by Ethiopian shepherds in the 9th century, after they witnessed their goats’ unusual hyperactivity following a binge on the coffee cherries. We can only assume that the goats later experienced a caffeine crash.

  • legend has it = according to legend (unconfirmed)
  • shepherds = people who take care of sheep & goats
  • witnessed = were present to observe
  • crash = sudden loss of energy

3. It’s a hot commodity

After oil, coffee is the second most traded product in the world, beating out agriculture, animal products, metals, precious metals, natural gas, and the combined categories of butter, orange juice, sugar, and cocoa.

  • hot = (informal) currently popular and successful
  • beating out = performing better than
  • precious metals = gold and silver

4. Coffee could kill you…

There is a lethal dose of caffeine, and that dose is roughly 100 cups of coffee in a day. It is said that Voltaire, the French philosopher, drank fifty cups per day. That’s more than three times the amount consumed by U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt, who downed a gallon a day.

  • a lethal dose = an amount that could kill you
  • roughly = approximately
  • downed = (informal) drank
  • a gallon = a unit of volume equal to 3.785 liters

5. …but it will more likely help you live longer

There are many health perks to drinking coffee, which is full of antioxidants. Studies indicate that regular coffee drinkers are at lower risk for conditions including Parkinson’s disease, Type II Diabetes, Heart Disease, cirrhosis, and dementia. Coffee does the body good.

  • antioxidants = chemicals that are believed to protect the body’s cells from damage
  • cirrhosis = a disease of the liver
  • dementia = loss of mental ability caused by old age or disease

6. Coffee assists in weight loss

Not only does caffeine stimulate an increased metabolism for fat burning, it also triggers an adrenaline release and unbinds fatty acid from fat tissue, both of which heighten performance while exercising.

  • metabolism = the process of the body breaking down food and using it for energy
  • unbinds = disconnects

7. Cold weather + Americans = Irish Coffee

Irish coffee, the rich cocktail of coffee, brown sugar, whiskey, and cream, was created by an Irish airline in order to help American passengers warm up as they disembarked into Ireland’s chilly and damp weather.

  • rich = when a food or drink is described as “rich,” it means it’s very full of flavor
  • cocktail = a drink where alcohol is mixed with other ingredients
  • disembarked = got off a boat or plane
  • damp = slightly wet

8. The effects of coffee are immediate

You’ll experience a caffeine rush merely ten minutes after your first sip of coffee. That means the potential to feel restored, energized, and ready for the day. So, what are you waiting for? Drink up!

  • rush = a sudden intense sensation
  • sip = small drink

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Reading Course

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  1. Lesson 1 – Introduction & Eight Fascinating Facts About Coffee
    3 Activities
  2. Lesson 2 – Nine Jobs That No Longer Exist
    3 Activities
  3. Lesson 3 – Amazing Celebrations Around the World
    3 Activities
  4. Lesson 4 – Amelia Earhart: America’s Pioneering Female Pilot
    3 Activities
  5. Lesson 5 – It’s the Best Time to Be Alive
    3 Activities
  6. Lesson 6 – Biggest Business Blunders
    3 Activities
  7. Lesson 7 – Conspiracy Theories That Were True
    3 Activities
  8. Lesson 8 – Cultural Perceptions of Time
    3 Activities
  9. Lesson 9 – Cyberbullying On the Rise
    3 Activities
  10. Lesson 10 – Development of Artificial Intelligence
    3 Activities
  11. Lesson 11 – Drowning in Debt
    3 Activities
  12. Lesson 12 – All About Esperanto
    3 Activities
  13. Lesson 13 – Finland’s Approach to Education
    3 Activities
  14. Lesson 14 – Common Health and Exercise Myths Debunked
    3 Activities
  15. Lesson 15 – Helicopter Parents
    3 Activities
  16. Lesson 16 – History’s Heroic Dogs
    3 Activities
  17. Lesson 17 – Interesting Recent Inventions
    3 Activities
  18. Lesson 18 – The Dark Side of International Adoption
    3 Activities
  19. Lesson 19 – Meditation: Ancient and Modern
    3 Activities
  20. Lesson 20 – How to Stay Motivated
    3 Activities
  21. Lesson 21 – Oprah Winfrey
    3 Activities
  22. Lesson 22 – Parenting Styles Around the World
    3 Activities
  23. Lesson 23 – Disastrous Dating Pet Peeves
    3 Activities
  24. Lesson 24 – The Challenge of Reducing Poverty
    3 Activities
  25. Lesson 25 – Rejection Therapy
    3 Activities
  26. Lesson 26 – Seven Unusual Hotels
    3 Activities
  27. Lesson 27 – Three Fascinating Shipwrecks
    3 Activities
  28. Lesson 28 – Songs That Changed the World
    3 Activities
  29. Lesson 29 – SpaceX and Its Plan to Colonize Mars
    3 Activities
  30. Lesson 30 – Four Strange Sports
    3 Activities
  31. Lesson 31 – Fame After 40
    3 Activities
  32. Lesson 32 – The Origins of Disney
    3 Activities
  33. Lesson 33 – The Psychology of Advertising
    3 Activities
  34. Lesson 34 – What’s the Deal with Tipping?
    3 Activities
  35. Lesson 35 – Famous Unsolved Crimes
    3 Activities
  36. Lesson 36 – History of U.S.-Cuba Relations
    3 Activities
  37. Lesson 37 – Vaccines
    3 Activities
  38. Lesson 38 – Stories Behind Famous World Landmarks
    3 Activities
  39. Lesson 39 – World’s Most Expensive Foods
    3 Activities
  40. Lesson 40 – Young Entrepreneurs
    3 Activities
  41. Your feedback & Next steps
Quiz 1 of 0

Reading Comprehension Lesson 1


Make sure to click “Finish quiz” and then “View Questions” to check your answers! ☝️

Then, continue to the activities below: