The Copybook

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

85

© Ian Capper, Geograph. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Mrs Partington and Her Mop by Sydney Smith

The defiant Mrs Partington took on the full might of the Atlantic Ocean.

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86

© Auckland Museum, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

One More Pounce paraphased from Captain Charles Johnson

A Welshman was not keen on handing over his employer’s money just because Tom Dorbel had a gun.

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87

Via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

What to Get the King Who Has Everything by Sir Thomas Roe

Sir Thomas Roe had some difficulty making an impression on Emperor Jehangir.

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88

© Konstantin hramov, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Greatest Mart Town of all Muscovy by Richard Hakluyt

Flemish merchants hoping to prosper in Russia’s commercial capital received a nasty shock.

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89

© jimmyweee, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0.

With Good Intent and Friendly Desire by Ivan IV of Russia

Ivan the Terrible offered free trade to English merchants throughout his dominions.

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90

© Krzysztof Golik, Wikimedia. Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Why We Study the Classics by Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling believed that a better appreciation of ancient Greece and Rome could help the English be less insular.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 4 NS

April 21 OS

The Night-time Disciple : Nicodemus did not allow intellectual doubts to get in the way of what he knew in his heart.
She was a Phantom of Delight : Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.
Hardly : Tone down these bold assertions with ‘hardly’.
The Death of Julius Caesar : When Julius Caesar entered the Senate that day, a note warning him of treachery was clutched in his hand — unread.
Two Letters Home : A German soldier stopped the Great War so he could ask Captain Hulse to post a letter for him.
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.
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