The book is for intermediate English learners and is useful for vocabulary and reading instruction at the college level.

The English POWER-On: Building Vocabulary and Reading Skills series is comprised of three books catering to English learners of different proficiency levels. Each book contains 18 units and 36 lessons that provide attractive reading material on different themes and various topics, including Travel, Animals, People, Art & Literature, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Science & Technology, Computers & the Internet, and Nature. This series offers you valuable practice with real English and a wealth of reading strategies and activities designed to help you build your vocabulary and comprehension skills.

BASIC STRUCTURES OF THE BOOK

Each lesson of the book is divided into three main parts that serve different functions and purposes.

BEFORE YOU READ

Before you read, each Pre-reading Warm-up exercise provides discussion questions to help you warm up your brain, increase your comprehension of the article, and familiarize you with the main topic.

READING PASSAGE

As you read, each short Reading Passage covers one of the many interesting topics and genres in the book, and points out target words and phrases to enhance your vocabulary and reading competence as well as foster your skills in appropriate word usage.

AFTER YOU READ

After you read, this section provides you with different kinds of after-reading activities, including:

• Reading Skill practices reading skills such as Making Inferences, Drawing Conclusions, Identifying Causes and Effects, Distinguishing Main Ideas and Supporting Details, and Evaluating Text Features.
• Word Study reinforces the appropriate usage of words and phrases.
• Exercise consists of Reading Comprehension, Target Vocabulary, and Critical Thinking.

These after-reading activities will help you gain a better understanding of the article and also build up your vocabulary and reading skills.

CEFR Level: B2

Contents

Unit 1 Arts & Literature

Lesson 1 Baroque Art

Lesson 2 Paulo Coelho

Unit 2 Entertainment

Lesson 3 Riverdance

Lesson 4 Stand-up Comedy

Review 1

Lesson 5 Molière

Lesson 6 Nail Art

Unit 3 Culture

Lesson 7 Coming of Age

Lesson 8 Growing up in Borneo

Unit 4 Business

Lesson 9 How to Be a Successful Entrepreneur

Lesson 10 Insurance

Review 2

Lesson 11 Dowry

Lesson 12 How to Manage Your Finances

Unit 5 Health & Life

Lesson 13 Power Napping

Lesson 14 In the Future, Will We All Be Vegetarian?

Unit 6 Science & Technology

Lesson 15 Bitcoins

Lesson 16 Is Seeing Believing?

Review 3

Lesson 17 Muscle Building in Old Age

Lesson 18 Bionic Prosthesis

Unit 7 Geography

Lesson 19 Living Near an Active Volcano

Lesson 20 The Petrified Forest

Unit 8 Mystery

Lesson 21 Is the White House Haunted?

Lesson 22 Area 51

Review 4

Lesson 23 The Caspian Sea

Lesson 24 Oscar, the Death Predicting Cat

Unit 9 Nature

Lesson 25 The Mimic Octopus

Lesson 26 Carnivorous Plants

Unit 10 Travel

Lesson 27 Bora Bora

Lesson 28 Cusco Peru

Review 5

Lesson 29 Scotland

Lesson 30 Sleep Tight! Don't let the Bedbugs Bite!

Unit 11 Sports

Lesson 31 Olympic Scandals

Lesson 32 The X Games

Unit 12 Politics

Lesson 33 A Country With No Government

Lesson 34 Immigration: Blessing or Curse?

Review 6

Lesson 35 The Paralympics

Lesson 36 Should Voting Be Compulsory?