English Listening comprehension and Reading
Comprehension Exercises

Both listening comprehension and reading comprehension exercises can help you understand English better. The more you read and listen to English-- even short selections-- the more quickly you can build your English vocabulary and fluency-- and enjoy yourself as you do!

Do you need a way to check how much you understand?

Try some of the exercises on this page to quiz yourself as well!

You'll find several kinds of listening or reading comprehension exercises here, on different subjects and at different levels. Choose the ones that are best for you!

Many of the videos have a transcript-- a written version of what you heard.This means that you can also use them to practice your reading and increase your vocabulary. (It helps because you can both see and hear the words-- often more than once.)

Your  will also get better at speaking and writing as the rhythms of English become more familiar. 

Hints for These Comprehension Talks & Exercises

Some of the TED talks have subtitles or translation into several common languages. Listen in English first to get the most English benefit. Then, if you want, you can listen or read in your own language to check your understanding.

The videos, then articles, and the exercises for each are in the Listening Comprehension or the Reading Comprehension sections below. Each section starts with beginning levels,  then more advanced. Here are links to jump to the High-Intermediate Advanced Listening or Advanced Reading sections, so you won't need to scroll as far.

At the bottom of the page, the same videos and exercises are listed by topic: health and psychology, the environment, and society and social change.

Listening Comprehension Exercises

Beginning or Multi-level Listening 

> ESL Lab: Lots of different subjects at several levels. These are mostly about everyday life and include quizzes and related grammar exercises. A related site, Daily ESL, has short readings on daily life topics with listen-along audio.

> USA Learns has a number of entertaining videos. They follow several families through different everyday experiences (working and job hunting, renting an apartment, getting phone service, resolving family problems.), Each lesson also has practice activities.

Teachers may sign up a class, and the site will report individual student activities and quiz results. I used this site and their videos with several classes and loved it! The ongoing stories are easy to follow, and provide lots of repeat exposure to vocabulary and some grammar points.

> The British Council has several series of Elementary Podcasts.  They tell stories about everyday life. Use their interactive exercises to practice what you have just heard. If you want to practice listening to a British accent, start here!

> The Clilstore  has videos or audio recordings with transcripts linked to dictionaries in many languages. (Be sure to select English if that's what you want to practice! They offer reading and listening materials to learn a number of different languages.)

This free service of the European Commission makes it possible to read slightly harder texts on subjects you're interested in, since you can click on any unknown word and learn its meaning(s) in your language. The recordings are arranged by level (A1- C2: basically beginner to very fluent.)

They have a lot of TED talks plus songs, interviews, and science and history articles. They even offer lesson plans, folktales, and an article on the greatest children's stories ever. Many selections also have exercises or quizzes for extra practice.

> You can find comprehension and discussion questions for several very interesting A2 level (easy) TED talks on hope at English Listening Practice (and Answers.)

Intermediate Listening

(As noted, these also can be used to practice your reading.)

> Listening and Reading Comprehension Practice for the 2 TED Talks on Nature’s Genius and Clean Energy policy, with a 12- question quiz to check your understanding.

>A Comprehension Worksheet on a TED talk about cancer, with a 10-question quiz, either on a downloadable worksheet or as an interactive quiz on the page.

> Lesson Plan on the Columbian Exchange includes a listening comprehension exercise.

Hign-Intermediate or Advanced Listening

> Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Gradation Speech explains the idioms and less-common vocabulary he uses. This will help you understand his classic commencement address.

> This ESL Listening Worksheet pdf links to a downloadable PDFthat has comprehension and discussion questions for an exceptional TED talk on "the Danger of a Single Story."

> A Comprehension Test on a TED talk on motivation. (It tests either reading-- if you read the transcript-- or listening/watching.) This test may be a little harder, but it's still a good way to check if you understood the speaker's ideas.

Reading Comprehension Exercises

Multi-level Readings or Intermediate 

> Newsela-- the same news report written at different reading levels. They have a great variety of interesting articles, recent and older. Most have quizzes to check your understanding.  They’re free, but you have to register.

> Reading Comprehension Questions on a Commencement Address on Success. The address is worth reading even if you don't need the practice-- but the questions are a good way to ensure you got the big ideas.

> Practice for the TOEFL and Other Reading Tests (with a reading selection about early American agriculture.) Unlike most of these quizzes, this one is not interactive. You can download the selection and questions, or read it on the page and just write the letter of each answer after the number of the question so you can check your abswers.) 

> Reading Comprehension Worksheet PDF to download on 'Education’s Death Valley' (a TED video with transcript to read-- or you can listen to it by following the link). 

> Reading Comprehension Test Practice based on the TED talk “Where ideas come from: (This also can be used for listening practice.) The quiz is interactive, and shorter, just 7 questions.

> What's the Relationship Between Thought & Language? Links to several fascinating articles and TED talks on the ways our language affects our thinking and perspective. Good practice reading & listening-- and comprehension questions from a TED Ed lesson on metaphors.

> (Free) Reading Comprehension Worksheets (It also lists pdfs for some of  the pages above.)

Hign Intermediate or Advanced Reading

> A Practice Reading Test (on psychodynamic therapies-- long and somewhat technical.) There are 8 non-interactive questions. 

> Check Your Reading Skill (with a selection on mental illness), 12 non-interactive questions.

Both of these can also be downloaded as a PDF of the test, questions, and answers if you would prefer to work offline.

See also many of the readings by topic in the list below-- and see Reading Articles to Improve English and the pages on communication, leadership, and science articles, etc. linked from it.

For Classrooms: Reading Lesson Plans at Modest Prices

> Reading Comprehension Lesson Plans.

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Reading & Listening Comprehension Exercises by Topic

(These are intermediate- high intermediate unless noted.)

Understanding our Bodies and our Minds (Health & Psychology)

>A Comprehension Worksheet on a TED talk about cancer

> A Comprehension Test on a TED talk on motivation. (It tests either reading-- if you read the transcript-- or listening/watching.) 

> Reading Comprehension Test Practice based on the TED talk “Where ideas come from: (This also can be used for listening practice.)

> A Practice Reading Test (on psychodynamic therapies)

> Check Your Reading Skill (with a selection on mental illness)

> What's the Relationship Between Thought & Language?

Understanding Nature and "Going Green"

> Listening and Reading Comprehension Practice: 2 TED Talks on Nature’s Genius and Clean Energy policy

Understanding Society: History, Cultures, and Social Change

> Practice for the TOEFL and Other Reading Tests (with a reading selection about early American agriculture)

> Reading Comprehension Worksheet pdf on Education’s Death Valley (a TED video with transcript to read-- or you can listen to it by following the link). 

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2. Comprehension Exercises

Suggestions for A2 (High Beginner) English Listening Practice using simple but compelling TED talks on the theme of hope. (You can read the transcripts for reading practice, too.)

Better English Reading   Comprehension  

These strategies for better English reading comprehension emphasize questions to ask yourself before, during, and after reading a text or article in English. They help you focus on its most important ideas.

 Reading Skills

Learn important ways to improve your reading skills: how to skim and scan, decode words and use context clues, recognize sequence and transition words, and make inferences.

Online Reading

You can find interesting online reading for almost any English level and need. Here are some good places to look.

Practice listening & reading comprehension with exercises based on various reading sources and talks. Many include the same kinds of questions you will find on exams like the TOEFL & IELTS.