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

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763

Anonymous photograph ca. 1875, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Shadow of a Name by Prince Hoare

When a Tahitian sailor was denied his well-earned wages, the rumour got about that Granville Sharp was on the case.

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764

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

The Charm of Golf by A. A. Milne

A. A. Milne analyses the popularity of golf, and decides that it’s good to be bad.

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765

By Carl Rudolf Huber (1839-1896), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

On a Tight Rein by Mrs Devonshire

The tale of how a prim little English horse cleaned up his Continental stables.

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766

© By William Hemsley (?1817-1906), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Hue and Cry by Sir Thomas Smith

Sir Thomas Smith, one of Elizabeth I’s diplomats, explains how in her day criminals were brought to trial.

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767

© Trescastillos, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Cuthbert and the White Rider by Clay Lane

The young Christian from ancient Northumbria was healed of a lame leg in a manner that reminded Bede of the archangel Rafael.

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768

By Tom Roberts (1856-1931), via the Royal Collection and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Crimson Thread by Sir Henry Parkes

In 1890, Sir Henry Parkes reminded Australians that they had a natural kinship and declared them ready to manage their own affairs.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 19 NS

May 6 OS

Thick and Thin : Express each of these ideas as a single word.
Break : Explain what each of these common expressions means, and give examples.
Blind Guide : William Wirt recalls an overpowering sermon from a blind man in a little wooden chapel.
It’s All in the Delivery : Aeschines paid tribute to the oratory of his greatest rival — whether he meant to or not.
The Road to Ruin : George Berkeley warned that industry, not financial speculation, was the guarantee of a nation’s wealth.
Signs of Command : Suggest publicly-displayed commands, and say how many of them are sentences.
My Native Notes : Scotsman James Boswell always spoke good English when in England, but he was careful to leave a little Scots in.
Hidden Message : Reveal the hidden message in a letter, and write a coded letter of your own.
The Great and the Good : Daniel Defoe wondered whether goodness was not preferable to greatness.
Statements, Questions and Commands : Choose a word from our list, and then use it in any one of the three basic types of sentence — if possible.
Sentegrams : These sentences, taken from English literature, have been jumbled up like an anagram; see if you can piece them back together.
Good Sense : Rewrite these sentences so that the word ‘unless’ is not used.
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