C1 · Stretch yourself
Rich, natural texts about places, history and ideas.
- Walk Upstream and You Will Find It The blue stone did not come from the sea. Polly follows the river up into the mountains, the way two men... Audio
- The Road That Runs Out of Room Polly reaches the southwest corner of the Dominican Republic, where the mountains push the road against the... Audio
- Eight Kilometres With Nothing On Them At the far southwest tip of the country there is a bay with nothing built on it, and then it is time to fly... Audio
- The Lake That Sits Below the Sea Inland from Barahona lies the largest lake in the Caribbean, saltier than the ocean, in a valley lower than... Audio
- A Hill Full of Holes Above one village the mountain is worked entirely by hand, because the only machine that could get the blue... Audio
- Crocodiles in Salt Water The salt lake holds the largest gathering of American crocodiles in the Caribbean, an island of rare... Audio
- Water That Went Hard In the workshops of Barahona the rough rock is opened, and inside is a blue that exists in exactly one... Audio
- The Riders Arrive Trucks, jet skis and arrow-shaped boards roll up the clifftop road as the riders gather, and everyone... Audio
- Seven Skirts and Silver Fish Polly rides the old funicular down to town, where gull ladies in seven layered skirts dry silver fish in... Audio
- The Knight and the Deer In a tiny tiled chapel on the clifftop, Polly reads the eight-hundred-year-old legend of a rider saved at... Audio
- The Canyon Under the Sea Flying over glassy water, Polly discovers the secret engine of Nazaré: the largest underwater canyon in... Audio
- The Giant The giants arrive at Praia do Norte: a wave taller than an apartment block, a tiny rider flying down its... Audio
- The Red Lantern Polly lands on the squat red lighthouse of Nazaré, where an old albatross with a spyglass warns her that... Audio
- The Sea Grows Quiet The swell softens, the old albatross returns to tell Polly she has truly seen the giants of Nazaré, and... Audio
- The Town That Lives Inside One Building Almost the entire population of Whittier, Alaska lives inside a single fourteen storey building, reached... Audio
- One Cafe, Two Countries In the Belgian Dutch town of Baarle, the international border runs straight through streets, houses, and... Audio
- The Castle Its King Barely Lived to See Bavaria's King Ludwig the Second poured a fortune into a fairy tale castle he would inhabit for barely a... Audio
- Walking Across the Floor of the Sea Twice each day, the tide withdraws for kilometres along the Wattenmeer coast, inviting walkers onto the... Audio
- Your Phone Isn't Dead. It's Just Cold. A phone that shows forty percent battery and then dies the moment you step into the cold has not run out of... Audio
- Ten Kilometres Up Passenger jets cruise about ten kilometres up not for the view but because that is where thin air starts... Audio
- Honey That Has Outlasted Empires Honey sealed inside Egyptian tombs thousands of years ago remains perfectly edible today, and the reason... Audio
- The Octopus That Slipped Its Lock An octopus named Inky vanished from a New Zealand aquarium overnight, and the ingenious route he took to... Audio
- The Wheel Waits for Spring Polly ends her week at Coney Island in the quiet weeks after summer, past a giant steel wheel built in... Audio
- Barrels on Every Roof On a Manhattan rooftop, Polly watches a raccoon carpenter build a wooden water tower the way they have been... Audio
- A Whole Pie, or Just a Piece At a coal-oven pizzeria opened by an Italian immigrant in nineteen oh five, Polly watches the oldest trick... Audio
- Grass Grown on Purpose In Central Park, Polly learns the whole landscape was built by hand on bare rock, blasted with more... Audio
- The Station Nobody Rides Through Polly follows the first subway line to its old end point, a curved and tiled station built as a showpiece... Audio
- The Bridge That Took Its Toll Polly walks the pedestrian path of the Brooklyn Bridge and learns how building it underwater left more than... Audio
- The Harbor's Open Hand Polly arrives in New York Harbor by ferry and studies the Statue of Liberty up close, a gift from France... Audio
- What the Fire Never Took Polly makes one last high pass over Kanazawa, waits out the rain that comes off the Sea of Japan almost... Audio
- Lanterns on a Working Street In Higashi Chaya, Polly finds a lantern-lit street of wooden teahouses that is still a working... Audio
- The Kitchen at First Light Before dawn at Omicho market, Polly watches fish laid out on ice in a market three hundred years old, and... Audio
- Beaten Until It Almost Is Not There In a gold leaf workshop, Polly learns that Kanazawa makes almost all of Japan's gold leaf, and that a piece... Audio
- Six Things a Garden Should Be In Kenrokuen, Polly watches koi turn under a famous pond and learns how gardeners rig great cones of rope... Audio
- White Roofs and Long Walls At Kanazawa Castle, Polly walks ramparts built by the richest lords in Japan and finds roofs tiled in lead,... Audio
- The City That Was Spared Polly arrives in Kanazawa, a city held between the Sea of Japan and the mountains, and finds an old wooden... Audio
- The Circle and the Morning Boat The Ring of Brodgar at dusk, then the small practical business of leaving an island, done in four sentences... Audio
- The Ninety-Day Grain In a bar in Kirkwall, a flat dark bannock turns out to be the reason the islands were farmable at all. Audio
- The Gathering on the Skerries Grey seals are hauling out on the low rocks before the pupping season, and the questions Polly has been... Audio
- Built From What They Had On Lamb Holm, two army huts hold a chapel that prisoners of war made out of scrap, and the only honest... Audio
- The Village Under the Storm At the Bay of Skaill, a guide with a carrying voice explains a village that a storm returned to the light... Audio
- The Chair by the Fire A guesthouse above the harbour, an argument about what counts as a quiet room, and a chair whose whole... Audio
- The Boat Comes In Polly lands at Stromness off the morning boat and works out, one question at a time, how a place with no... Audio
- The Mist Closes Behind Her On her last afternoon, Polly climbs high over the whole island one more time before fog rolls in from the... Audio
- A Village Wired to a Volcano Walking through the village, Polly finds the same underground heat that cooked lunch also fills a giant... Audio
- Dinner Buried at Dawn Beside a steaming lake, Polly watches a cook lower sealed pots into holes heated only by the volcano below,... Audio
- One Crater, Two Colors Polly finds an ancient volcanic crater holding two lakes side by side, one blue and one green, joined... Audio
- The Bird Twice Given Up For Lost Deep in an old laurel forest, Polly searches for the priolo, a tiny grey and pink bird found nowhere else... Audio
- The Last Two Gardens in Europe Polly lands on a terraced hillside where one of only two working tea plantations left in Europe still uses... Audio
- Nine Islands, Three Plates Polly arrives over São Miguel, the largest of the nine Azores islands, and finds a coastline of black... Audio
- Climbing Back Up Polly climbs the staircase one last time at dawn and looks out at the pink granite islands across the strait. Audio
- Fresh Water at the Bottom of the Sea Cliff At the foot of the staircase Polly finds cold fresh water coming out of the rock at sea level, and finally... Audio
- Nobody Agrees How Many Polly watches a fox measuring the steps, and discovers that even the official records disagree about how... Audio
- The Rock That Left Polly reaches the level of a lone tower of rock standing out in the sea, and learns it used to be part of... Audio
- The Cliff That Leans Over You Further down, Polly finds the cliff hanging out above her head, and dark birds nesting on the ledges. Audio
- The Staircase and the Story About It Polly starts down the staircase and hears the old legend that soldiers cut it in a single night. Audio
- The Town That Stands on the Edge Polly reaches the southern tip of Corsica and finds a town built right on the lip of a limestone cliff, and... Audio
- Leaving at First Light Polly says goodbye to Berta on the watchtower at dawn and lets the river lead her out of Albarracín. Audio
- The Shepherd at the Gate At dawn a flock of sheep pours through the old town gate, and Polly joins the shepherd, his mastiff and the... Audio
- The River That Circles the Town Polly spends a slow day down on the Guadalaviar, the river that wraps the town like a moat, and shares dusk... Audio
- The Painted Animals of the Red Rocks In the pine forest of red stone outside town, Polly finds paintings of animals made by human hands... Audio
- The Wall That Climbs the Mountain Polly climbs the great wall above the town to a square stone watchtower and learns who built it more than a... Audio
- Berta and the Leaning Houses An old stone marten who lives inside the town walls shows Polly the crooked lanes of Albarracín, including... Audio
- The Town Inside the River's Arm Polly follows a looping river into the hills of eastern Spain and finds Albarracín, a pink town stacked... Audio
- Spider Rock At the place where the canyon splits in two, a single tower of red stone stands alone on the floor, and... Audio
- The Only Way Down A Diné rider brings visitors down the sandy track, and Polly learns why almost nobody walks this canyon... Audio
- Rain on the Rim A summer storm turns the canyon walls into waterfalls for one hour, fills the dry wash, and waters the... Audio
- The Horses of the Wash Thunder without clouds turns out to have legs: horses running loose along the flat sand, and walls that... Audio
- The Houses in the Wall High in a hollow in the cliff, Polly finds stone rooms built hundreds of years ago, and learns this canyon... Audio
- Where the Walls Stand Up The canyon grows around Polly, the cliffs show their dark water stripes, and cliff swallows teach her to... Audio
- The Low Wall Polly arrives at a famous canyon in Arizona and finds walls barely taller than the trees, until a raven... Audio
- Polly Takes the Bus One nervous first ride, a capybara who has seen it all, and the exact moment a new neighborhood starts... Audio
- Polly Asks the Way Twenty minutes of proud wandering, one patient owl, and the discovery that a single question is worth more... Audio
- Polly Orders a Coffee A rainy afternoon pushes Polly into the corner cafe, where a badger with a bow tie, a first coffee order,... Audio
- Polly at the Market Berta keeps her promise and walks Polly through the Saturday market, where a spiky fruit, a chatty goat,... Audio
- Polly Meets Someone On moving day, Polly meets Berta the bear watering her geraniums, and a chat over the fence turns into a... Audio
- Polly Flies the Balloon On her last morning, the field was still dark. Audio
- The Sky Has Three Rooms That morning, Polly counted balloons until she lost count. Audio
- Rose and Red On the fifth morning, the balloon drifted over valleys of pink and red stone. Audio
- The Pigeon Houses The next dawn, the wind carried the balloon into a narrow valley. Audio
- Towers of Old Fire That dawn, Polly rode in the basket. Audio
- Fire in the Dark The next morning, Polly woke long before the sun. Audio
- A Hundred Balloons at Dawn Before sunrise, the sky over the valley began to fill with giant balloons. Audio
- Rose-Red Morning On the last morning, Polly watched the sun climb over the canyon. Audio
- The Final Bend Polly woke early. Audio
- Water in the Desert Polly rested beside the little water channel. Audio
- The Colours of the Rock At midday, the sun reached down into the canyon. Audio
- The Stone Camels Polly hopped along the wall beside the little channel. Audio
- The Narrow Way In the morning, Polly hopped into the canyon. Audio
- The Crack in the Desert Polly flew over a desert of pink and gold mountains. Audio
- First Light On her last morning, Polly flew out to the end of the cape, called Cap de Sant Antoni. Audio
- The Town of Golden Stone Polly flew down into the old town. Audio
- The Old Windmills High on the flat top of the hills, Polly found a row of round stone towers. Audio
- The Carved Cave Polly flew down to the sea. Audio
- Hunters of the Sky Polly climbed to the edge of the mountain. Audio
- The Mountain Garden In the morning the air smelled sweet and dry. Audio
- The Elephant Mountain Polly flew in at dawn over a calm blue sea. Audio
- The Forest Breathes Polly leaves at dawn as the forest steams, sending rivers of rain through the sky to far-off lands while... Audio
- The Listeners Polly meets a scientist who studies the forest by ear, leaving microphones in the trees to hear animals no... Audio
- When the Sun Goes Down Night turns the rainforest into a louder, hidden world, and Polly stays awake to hear the forest sing and... Audio
- The Dark Floor Polly drops to the dim forest floor, watches leafcutter ants farm a fungus, and learns how the forest feeds... Audio
- The Brown River Polly follows the great brown river, meets pink river dolphins, and finds a flooded forest where fish plant... Audio
- The Roof of the World Polly climbs into the canopy, the bright crowded top floor of the rainforest where most animals live and... Audio
- The Green Sea Polly arrives over the Amazon at dawn, a green canopy like a sea cut by the world's greatest river, and... Audio
- The Sun That Won't Set On her last night the sun never sets, and from the golden sky Polly sees her whole week at once, then... Audio
- The Watchers Polly visits a scientist who reads earthquakes as dots on a screen, learns how a whole country gets warned... Audio
- The Bird Cliffs Polly joins a city of seabirds on the sea cliffs, watches puffins fly underwater after fish, and meets the... Audio
- The Ice That Hides Fire Polly lands on the largest glacier in Europe, finds an ice cave that glows blue, and learns that volcanoes... Audio
- New Land The ground opens in the south, and Polly watches fountains of melted rock build brand-new land, then learns... Audio
- The Earth Breathes Polly meets a geyser that erupts all day, learns why hot water shoots from the ground, and finds a country... Audio
- The Seam of the World Polly arrives over Iceland and finds the secret under the whole island: it sits on a giant crack where two... Audio
- Balloons at Dawn On her last morning, Polly rises with the hot-air balloons at sunrise, sees her whole week below her at... Audio
- The Ranger's Notebook At a small research post, Polly watches collared lions move as dots on a screen and learns about the... Audio
- The Cleanup Crew Polly soars with the vultures, meets a beetle that steers by the Milky Way, and learns that nothing on the... Audio
- Three Heartbeats Polly tries to keep up with a hunting cheetah, fails in three heartbeats, and discovers that the fastest... Audio
- The Crossing The herd reaches the Grumeti River, where crocodiles have waited most of the year, and Polly flies through... Audio
- A River of Animals Polly rides on the back of a wildebeest inside the great migration and learns how zebras, wildebeest, and... Audio
- The Endless Plain Polly arrives over the Serengeti at dawn and discovers the secret hiding under the grass: ancient volcanic... Audio
- The Whale That Traveled Fifteen Thousand Kilometers Polly learns about two humpback whales who swam 14,000+ km from Australia to Brazil, breaking the world... Audio
- The Vanishing Runners Polly arrives in Tromsø for the Midnight Sun Marathon and befriends Astrid, a 67-year-old runner trying to... Audio
- The Midnight Sun Marathon Polly arrives in Tromsø, Norway during the midnight sun and meets Astrid, a 67-year-old marathoner... Audio
- The Race to Remember Polly the parrot joins the Midnight Sun Marathon in Tromsø, where runners mysteriously vanish into a WWII... Audio
- Sunrise on Cerro Paranal Polly says goodbye to Camila at sunrise on Cerro Paranal and lifts off east over the Andes toward her next... Audio
- Seeing a Galaxy Polly watches an observation of NGC 1068, an active galactic nucleus 47 million light years away, and... Audio
- The Birds That Live Here Polly explores the small fauna of the Atacama: the fog beetle that drinks from condensation, the gecko that... Audio
- Daytime in the Driest Place Polly takes a daytime drive into the Atacama with Diego Castro, the site engineer, learning about flash... Audio
- Five Hundred Light Years Polly watches Camila observe an exoplanet transit, measuring the dip in starlight to learn what gases are... Audio
- Opening the Dome Polly watches the dome of UT1, one of the four 8.2-metre telescopes of the Very Large Telescope at Paranal,... Audio
- Climbing the Driest Place Polly arrives at ESO's Paranal Observatory in the Atacama, the driest place on Earth, where four enormous... Audio
- Vladivostok Polly arrives in Vladivostok at the end of the Trans-Siberian's 9,289 kilometres, stretches her wings, and... Audio
- The Amur Polly reaches the Russian Far East on the sixth day of the Trans-Siberian, sees the Amur River bordering... Audio
- Lake Baikal Polly spends the fifth day of the Trans-Siberian running along Lake Baikal, the deepest, oldest, and... Audio
- Time Zones Polly explores the dining car on the fourth day of the Trans-Siberian and learns that the whole train runs... Audio
- Crossing the Urals Polly crosses the Ural Mountains, the geographic boundary between Europe and Asia, on the third day of the... Audio
- The Birch Forests Polly wakes up on the second morning of the Trans-Siberian crossing the birch forests of European Russia.... Audio
- Yaroslavsky Station Polly boards the Rossiya, the flagship train of the Trans-Siberian Railway, at Moscow's Yaroslavsky... Audio
- Goodbye to Pasta Polly says goodbye to Pasta the octopus, who presses one arm against the glass exactly opposite where... Audio
- The Editor of Itself Polly learns that octopuses edit their own RNA in real time, tuning their nervous systems to their... Audio
- Pizza and the Long Lunch Polly takes the long lunch with Chiara at a Neapolitan pizzeria, learning the protected rules behind... Audio
- The Skin That Sees Polly watches Pasta find food under a coloured plate even though octopuses are colour-blind through their... Audio
- The Body That Thinks Polly watches Pasta solve an acrylic maze using two arms independently. She learns that two-thirds of an... Audio
- The Jar Polly watches a giant Pacific octopus named Pasta open a screw-top jar to retrieve a live crab. She learns... Audio
- The Bay of Naples Polly arrives in Naples and is welcomed into the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, the world's oldest marine... Audio
- Leaving the Valley Polly says goodbye to Ranger Tomas at the visitor centre and lifts off west out of Yosemite, leaving behind... Audio
- The Milky Way Over Glacier Point Polly watches sunset from Glacier Point and stays for the Milky Way, looking through a park astronomer's... Audio
- Half Dome Polly climbs the 1,500-metre north face of Half Dome on rising thermals with a flock of white-throated... Audio
- The Diving Falcon Polly tries to copy a peregrine falcon's dive after seeing one launch from El Capitan, learning about the... Audio
- The Sequoia Polly visits Mariposa Grove and climbs into the canopy of the Grizzly Giant, a giant sequoia nearly 3,000... Audio
- Riding With Ranger Tomas Polly rides shotgun with Ranger Tomas Rodriguez through Yosemite for a morning, learning how rangers... Audio
- Above the Valley Polly arrives at Yosemite Valley from the air, taking in the U-shaped glacial geology, El Capitan with... Audio
- Heading Home Polly says a quiet farewell to the Pressure Drop and its crew, reflects on a week of careful watching, and... Audio
- Eleven Hundred Atmospheres In the ship's dry lab, Polly sees what 1,100 atmospheres of pressure does to ordinary objects, a Styrofoam... Audio
- The Galley Polly spends a morning in the ship's galley with Esteban, the cook, learning how an expedition vessel feeds... Audio
- Nineteen Sixty In the captain's mess, Polly studies a photograph of Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh, the first humans to... Audio
- The Snailfish Polly meets the Mariana snailfish (Pseudoliparis swirei), the deepest-living fish known. She learns about... Audio
- The Sphere Polly watches an engineer inspect the Limiting Factor's titanium pressure sphere, the cabin where the pilot... Audio
- The Pressure Drop Polly arrives at the research vessel Pressure Drop in the western Pacific, where the deep-sea submersible... Audio
- Racing Against Time Polly arrives in Tromsø for the Midnight Sun Marathon where she helps runners Astrid and Mikkel, but when... Audio
- Through the Looking Glass Polly arrives in Tromsø for the Midnight Sun Marathon, befriending Astrid and helping Mikkel during the... Audio
- The Bunker's Secret Polly arrives in Tromsø for the Midnight Sun Marathon and befriends Astrid, a 67-year-old runner, and they... Audio
- Resonance and Resistance Polly meets Emma Hartley, a researcher studying alpine acoustics, who helps Kaspar discover his musician's... Audio
- The Broken Echo Polly meets Emma Hartley, a British doctoral student studying alpine acoustics, who suggests that Kaspar's... Audio
- Polly's Farewell to Buenos Aires Polly, a curious parrot, visits Buenos Aires and helps transform a rivalry at a tango festival into a... Audio
- Polly and the Melody of Unity Polly and her companions face an unexpected challenge when a rival group claims to host the true tango... Audio
- The Unexpected Rivalry Polly, Diego, and Isabel face an unexpected challenge when a rival group claims to host the true tango... Audio
- Polly's Strategic Flight Polly the parrot helps Diego and Isabel counteract misinformation threatening a tango festival in Buenos... Audio
- The Tango Conundrum Polly the parrot joins Diego and Isabel in Buenos Aires, where they learn of a potential plot to disrupt a... Audio
- A Whirlwind Encounter at La Boca Polly the parrot, exploring Buenos Aires, meets Isabel, a talented artist in La Boca, who is capturing the... Audio
- Polly and the Tango Rhythms of Buenos Aires Polly the parrot arrives in Buenos Aires and meets Diego, a tango musician preparing for a local festival.... Audio
- The Farewell in the City of Light In Paris, Polly helps Isabelle solve the mystery of a missing painting and returns it to the artist. They... Audio
- The Dance of Discovery In Paris, Polly helps Isabelle solve the mystery of a missing painting and returns it to the artist. They... Audio
- The Unexpected Turn at Montmartre In Paris, Polly the parrot and Isabelle solve the mystery of a missing painting. Returning it to the... Audio
- The Pursuit Across Pont des Arts In Paris, Polly the parrot and Isabelle solve the mystery of a missing painting by confronting a mysterious... Audio
- The Enigma of the Vanishing Painting In Paris, Polly the parrot and Isabelle, a writer, meet Monsieur Dupont, an elderly artist, whose painting... Audio
- The Secret of the Seine Polly and Isabelle embark on a walk along the Seine, where they meet Monsieur Dupont, an elderly artist.... Audio
- Polly Lands in the City of Light Polly the parrot arrives in Paris, the City of Light, and lands in a charming café in Le Marais. There, she... Audio
- The Secrets of Marrakech Revealed Polly the parrot and Fatima, guided by a mysterious map, explore the hidden depths of Marrakech, uncovering... Audio
- The Hidden Market's Revelation Polly and Fatima, guided by a mysterious map, uncover a hidden courtyard and a secret market in Marrakech.... Audio
- A Twist in the Labyrinth Polly and Fatima, guided by a mysterious map, uncover a hidden courtyard in Marrakech. As they continue... Audio
- The Whispering Fountain's Secret Polly and Fatima, guided by a mysterious map, uncover a hidden courtyard in Marrakech. They decipher an... Audio
- The Mysterious Map and the Secret Door Polly and Fatima, following a mysterious map, discover a hidden courtyard in Marrakech. They uncover an... Audio
- A Serendipitous Encounter Polly the parrot, alongside Fatima, continues to explore Marrakech, where they encounter an elderly... Audio
- Polly in the Enchanting Streets of Marrakech Polly the parrot arrives in Marrakech, where she meets Fatima, a traveler trying to navigate the city's... Audio
- Reflections Under the Stars Polly and Amir reflect on their adventure under the stars, cherishing the lessons learned and the deepened... Audio
- Secrets of the Tomb Inside the lost tomb, Polly and Amir discover a chamber filled with ancient treasures. However, the tomb is... Audio
- The Desert's Deception Despite initial frustration, Polly and Amir manage to find the hidden entrance to the lost tomb as night... Audio
- Into the Desert Polly and Amir journey into the desert, guided by the clues from the box, to find the entrance to a lost... Audio
- The Enigma of the Enchanted Mask In Venice, Polly the parrot and historian Isabella continue their quest to uncover a legendary document.... Audio
- A Mysterious Manuscript Polly, a curious parrot, arrives in Venice and notices a young woman named Isabella, who holds a mysterious... Audio
- Polly's Venetian Voyage Polly, the curious parrot, arrives in Venice, a city of canals and rich history. As she takes in the sights... Audio
- Farewell to Marrakech Polly says goodbye to Marrakech, having helped uncover a treasure that preserves the city's history, and... Audio
- The Secret Revealed Polly and her friends solve a riddle that leads them to a hidden key, unlocking the treasure chamber and... Audio
- A Race Against Time Polly, Leila, and Omar team up to find the treasure, racing through Marrakech as obstacles arise, including... Audio
- Meeting the Storyteller Polly meets Adil, a storyteller in Marrakech, and learns about the tale of the lost treasure of Sultan... Audio
- Arrival in the Red City Polly arrives in the vibrant city of Marrakech, soaking in the sensory-rich atmosphere of Jemaa el-Fnaa and... Audio
- Polly and the Language of the Ancients Polly, the curious parrot, delves into the mystery of Echoing Canyon's cryptic echoes. Guided by local... Audio
- Polly and the Enigma of the Echoing Canyon Polly the parrot, exploring the American Southwest, discovers a mysterious echo in Echoing Canyon that... Audio