Intermediate English

Castle Learning Online's Intermediate English includes questions covering reading skills and grammar. The Critical Reading Passages unit contains interesting reading passages with related questions, testing a student's comprehension skills. Associated with each reading passage is a related essay that students can work with offline.

Passages vary in length and are categorized into the following main genres: General Prose, Informational Prose, Poetry, Speech, and Information and Chart. Each passage is also assigned a difficulty level (Basic, Intermediate, or Advanced), relative to reading levels appropriate for students at the middle school level. In addition to asking questions of a factual nature, the Critical Reading/Essays unit tests students’ ability to make an inference, draw a conclusion, use contextual clues to identify vocabulary, and interpret negatives.

The Reading Skills unit consists of shorter passages covering the same skills.

Units: (click to view Sections)

1. Critical Reading Passages
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Poetry
   2. Informational Prose
   3. Prose & Short Stories
   4. Prose & Poetry
   5. Information & Chart
   6. Biographies & Autobiographies
   7. Myths, Legends & Folktales
2. Critical Reading Skills
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Informational Prose
   2. Prose & Short Stories
3. Grammar: The Sentence
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Sentence Overview
   2. Subjects and Predicates
   3. End Marks
   4. Fragments
   5. Dependent Clauses
   6. Run-on Sentences
   7. Capital Letters
   8. The Compound Sentence
   9. The Complex Sentence
4. Grammar: Internal Punctuation
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Using Commas to Separate Items in a Series
   2. Using Commas in Compound Sentences
   3. Using Commas to Separate Attached Words
   4. Using Commas to Isolate Nonessential Parts of a Sentence
   5. Using Commas in Standard Situations
   6. Using Apostrophes to Show Possession
   7. Using Apostrophes in Contractions
   8. Using Quotation Marks in Direct Quotes
5. Grammar: Usage
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Subject-Verb Agreement
   2. Verb Tense Agreement
   3. Verb Usage Situations
   4. Troublesome Verbs
   5. Pronouns Used as Subjects
   6. Pronouns Used as Objects
   7. Pronouns Used in Both Cases
   8. Adjectives and Adverbs
   9. Comparisons with Adjectives and Adverbs
   10. Common Mistakes with Adjectives and Adverbs
6. Critical Listening Selections
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Informational Prose
   2. Prose & Short Stories
   3. Biographies
   4. Myths, Legends and Folktales
7. Introduction to Literature
   
   Sections:
   

   1. Literary Forms and Techniques
   2. Figurative Language
8. Literature: The Diary of Anne Frank [stage play]
9. Literature: A Raisin in the Sun
10. Literature: Where the Red Fern Grows
    
11. Literature: Call of the Wild
    
12. Literature: The Giver
    
13. Literature: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
    
14. Literature: The Watsons Go To Birmingham
    

Themes:

1. Identifying Factual Information
2. Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions
3. Understanding Vocabulary Usage Based on Context
4. Identifying Main Idea or Theme
5. Identifying Mood
6. Identifying Multiple Levels of Meaning
7. Grammar