Oxford Bookworms 1 (400 headwords)

When Lord Asano drew his sword on Lord Kira one spring day in 1701, it began a story that is now a national legend in Japan. Lord Kira lived, but Lord Asano died, and after his death, his samurai became ronin, samurai without a master. And so began their long plan for revenge on Lord Kira. Their loyalty to their dead master made them famous, and people in Japan remember them to this day.

The story of the forty-seven ronin has been told and retold for 300 years - in plays, novels, and films. A major Hollywood film was made about the forty-seven ronin in 2013.

Oxford Bookworms enjoy a world-wide reputation for high-quality storytelling and a great reading experience.

Research shows reading a lot improves all your languag

When Lord Asano drew his sword on Lord Kira one spring day in 1701, it began a story that is now a national legend in Japan. Lord Kira lived, but Lord Asano died, and after his death, his samurai became ronin, samurai without a master. And so began their long plan for revenge on Lord Kira. Their loyalty to their dead master made them famous, and people in Japan remember them to this day.

The story of the forty-seven ronin has been told and retold for 300 years - in plays, novels, and films. A major Hollywood film was made about the forty-seven ronin in 2013.

Oxford Bookworms enjoy a world-wide reputation for high-quality storytelling and a great reading experience.

Research shows reading a lot improves all your languag

Shirley Homes, private investigator. Like Sherlock Holmes a hundred years ago, she lives in London, enjoys working on difficult cases, and has some helpful friends. She understands people, is a good listener, and of course, she is clever with computers. In today's world that is important, because a lot of crime is cyber crime.

In this second Shirley Homes detective story, Shirley must catch a cyber thief. But how? You can't see a cyber thief, you can't hear a cyber thief. Only the computer knows, and the computer isn't talking...

Oxford Bookworms enjoy a world-wide reputation for high-quality storytelling and a great reading experience.

Research shows reading a lot improves all your language skills.

Experts recognize Oxford Book

France, 1815. Jean Valjean leaves prison after nineteen years. These are dangerous and troubled times, and life is hard. Valjean must begin a new life, but how can he escape his past, and his enemy, Inspector Javert?

This story for Bookworms is loosely based on the famous novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, one of France's greatest writers. The novel was written in 1862, and the story has been retold many times - in a musical, in plays for radio and theatre, and in more than fifty films for television and cinema.

Oxford Bookworms enjoy a world-wide reputation for high-quality storytelling and a great reading experience.

Research shows reading a lot improves all your language skills.

Experts recognize Oxford Bookworms as the mo

Luke is a good-looking young man, but he's not very clever with words. Gemma is clever with words, but what does she want? Lucy and Becky are good friends, but what about Sam? He makes wonderful cakes, but does he make mistakes too? Nina and Dragan are in love, so deeply in love, but they live in the wrong place, at the wrong time ...

All love stories have moments of happiness, pain, misunderstanding, laughter, and sometimes great sadness. But love will nearly always find a way ...

Oxford Bookworms enjoy a world-wide reputation for high-quality storytelling and a great reading experience.

Research shows reading a lot improves all your language skills.

Experts recognize Oxford Bookworms as the most consisten

On a quiet sea, the biggest ship in the world is waiting. There is no noise from the engines. Up in the night sky there are hundreds of stars. Behind the ship, an iceburg - a great mountain of ice - goes slowly away into the black night. In the beautiful first-class rooms, rich passengers eat and listen to music. Down in the third-class cabins, families sleep. An exciting new life is waiting for them in America. But for many of the people in this small 'city on the sea', this is their last night alive...

More than 20 million visitors come to Scotland each year. Some love it for its long white beaches and quiet green hills. Some like the busy cities, with their shops and museums, castles and parks. Others come to see the home of their parents and grandparents, to hear Scottish music, to find their family tartan. And some come to visit the whiskey distilleries, eat wonderful food, and go to one of the world's biggest street parties. Scotland has something for everybody. Come and find what Scotland has for you.

Do you believe in ghosts? Jerry doesn't. He's a nineteen-year-old American, who just wants a good holiday with his friend, Brad. They are travelling round the north of England by bicycle. But strange things begin to happen in the small hotel where they are staying. First, Brad seems to think that he has been there before. And then a girl called Ellen appears . . .

The first of these three original plays is set in the seventeenth century, and the other two take place in modern times. In each play, a ghost comes back from the dead to change the lives of living people.

Word count 5,561

PLAYSCRIPT

It is the year 2522, and the planet Earth is dying. The Artificial Ozone Layer is only 300 years old, but it is breaking up fast. Now the sun is burning down on Earth with a white fire. There is no water. Without water, nothing can live. Trees die, plants die, animals die, people die ...In a colony under the moon, people wait for news - news from home, news from the planet Earth. And in a spaceship high above Earth, a young man watches numbers on a computer screen. The numbers tell a story, and the young man is afraid. The planet Earth is burning, burning, burning ...

Fantasy Horror

Some sisters are good friends, some are not. Sometimes there is more hate in a family than there is love. Karin is beautiful and has lots of men friends, but she can be very unkind to her sister Marcia. Perhaps when they were small, there was love between them, but that was a long time ago. They say that everybody has one crime in them. Perhaps they only take an umbrella that does not belong to them. Perhaps they steal from a shop, perhaps they get angry and hit someone, perhaps they kill ... Crime Mystery

Some sisters are good friends, some are not. Sometimes there is more hate in a family than there is love. Karin is beautiful and has lots of men friends, but she can be very unkind to her sister Marcia. Perhaps when they were small, there was love between them, but that was a long time ago. They say that everybody has one crime in them. Perhaps they only take an umbrella that does not belong to them. Perhaps they steal from a shop, perhaps they get angry and hit someone, perhaps they kill ... Crime Mystery