The Copybook

Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

1429

© Andrey Mironov, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Man Born Blind by Clay Lane

A man born blind is healed by Jesus, but finds himself a social outcast as a result.

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1430

© Marie-Lan Nguyen, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Alcibiades by Clay Lane

In the populist democracy of 5th-century BC Athens, heroes fell as quickly as they rose.

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1431

© Pauline E, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

St David of Wales by Clay Lane

The popular monk was elected as bishop of Menevia in Wales in 550.

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1432

© Thermos, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.5.

Pericles and the Fickle Public of Athens by Clay Lane

The leader of 5th-century BC Athens lavished public money on the city and its adoring citizens, and wherever he led they followed.

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1433

© frielp, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Knight, the Lady, and the Forest of Sorrow by Clay Lane

A little fable of encouragement for all the suffering.

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1434

© Nonnietang, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

How the British Invented Cool by Clay Lane

Michael Faraday showed that gases could be compressed and evaporated to preserve food and make ice.

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Clay Lane The Copybook
About Clay Lane nicholas@claylane.uk

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

April 29 NS

April 16 OS

A Literary Mystery : In 1798, ‘Plays on the Passions’ appeared in London bookstores, but no one seemed to know who had written them.
Smile : Choose adjectives of praise for these nouns, at about the 7/10 level.
The Making of Mark : St Mark wrote his Gospel as a summary of the preaching of St Peter.
Zheng He and the Rise of Malacca : Malacca became a refuge from the overbearing empires of the Far East, thanks to a celebrated Chinese admiral.
Confusables : Compose sentences to bring out the similarities and differences between these words.
Jill and I : Include yourself in these sentences about Jill.
Saddled : Use these words in sentences, and see if you can use one of them as a verb.
Russia’s Heroic Stand : In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.
Approachable : Replace the verb ‘can’ with these alternatives, and explain how the meaning of the sentence has changed.
The First Easter : In a translation from the Authorized Version of the Bible, published in 1611, St Mark recounts the discovery of Christ’s empty tomb.
A Collect for Easter Day : A short prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, for the day of Christ’s resurrection.
The Gambler : Which well-known expression is Dr Johnson talking about here?
If I Had But Two Little Wings : Samuel Taylor Coleridge holds on to those precious moments when loneliness is a problem for tomorrow.
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