The Longman Academic Reading Series is a five-level series that prepares English language learners for academic work. The aim of the series is to make students more effective and confident readers by providing high-interest readings on academic subjects and by teaching them skills and strategies for effective reading, vocabulary building, note-taking, and critical thinking. The series also encourages students to discuss and write about the ideas they discovered in the readings, making them better speakers and writers of English as well. Features Readings based on academic sources — Every reading in the text focuses on an academic subject and is chosen with the intent of providing different and intriguing perspectives on the theme. Multiple reading genres — Readings come from a variety of sources or genres, from textbooks to on-line articles, and are written by a variety of experts from widely different fields. Explicit academic skills — From critical reading to vocabulary building, notetaking and critical thinking, theLongman Academic Reading Series provides students with a holistic approach to effective reading. Corpus-Informed approach to vocabulary (AWL) — Students build vocabulary and acquire skills that will help them become more confident and successful in preparing for their academic work.