The Copybook

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

May 9 ns April 26 os

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Read short passages similar to those NL Clay collected in his anthologies, to gain a feeling for the language, history and culture of the English-speaking world.

In The Copybook

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Thomas Blood steals the Crown Jewels

May 9

© CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

A Gallant Attempt for the Crown by Clay Lane

Only months after kidnapping the Duke of Ormond, Irish radical Thomas Blood was at it again, this time attempting to steal the Crown Jewels.

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★

Victory Day

May 9

By Yevgeny Khaldei (1916-1997), viua Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Russia’s Heroic Stand from Compton’s Encyclopedia

In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.

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Featured

By NASA/JPL, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain image.

The Vast Depths of Infinity by Thomas Wright

Thomas Wright offers his readers a way of thinking about the enormous distances involved in any description of the solar system.

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1

© Tamara Menzi, Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The First Traffic Lights from The Express

The busy crossroads outside the Houses of Parliament was the testing ground for a new technology.

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2

By Boris Grigoriev (1886-1939), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The Rule of the Road by A. G. Gardiner

Being a free citizen doesn’t mean that everyone else has to get out of your way.

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3

Ministry of Information, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Blind Courage by George Santayana

George Santayana reprimanded politicians and military men who thought war was good for the country’s soul.

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4

By Alfred Wordsworth Thompson (1840-1896), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

She was a Phantom of Delight by William Wordsworth

Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.

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5

By Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The Death of Julius Caesar by Plutarch

When Julius Caesar entered the Senate that day, a note warning him of treachery was clutched in his hand — unread.

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6

© Brian Deegan, Geograph. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Two Letters Home by Sir Edward Hamilton Westrow Hulse

A German soldier stopped the Great War so he could ask Captain Hulse to post a letter for him.

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

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 9 NS

April 26 OS

A Gallant Attempt for the Crown : Only months after kidnapping the Duke of Ormond, Irish radical Thomas Blood was at it again, this time attempting to steal the Crown Jewels.
Russia’s Heroic Stand : In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.
Repeat Offender :
In Two Minds : Join these ideas together to a form a single sentence, in at least two different ways.
The First Traffic Lights : The busy crossroads outside the Houses of Parliament was the testing ground for a new technology.
Good Companions : Explain what these wise classical authors are telling us.
The Rule of the Road : Being a free citizen doesn’t mean that everyone else has to get out of your way.
Blind Courage : George Santayana reprimanded politicians and military men who thought war was good for the country’s soul.
Patience : Make a single sentence out of these three ideas.
The Angel Cried : A hymn sung in the weeks after Easter, imagining how Gabriel brought the news of Christ’s resurrection to Mary.
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.
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