I've recently come across this interesting French website called Daily Geek Show which also has, by the way, an associated YouTube channel with interesting videos as well as a Twitter feed worth following (@DailyGeekShow). According to their Facebook page: "Daily Geek Show est un site d'actualités dédié aux plus belles découvertes de l'humanité !" There's certainly a lot of potentially useful authentic reading and listening material for intermediate (GCSE) and advanced level.
Based in Paris, the site features videos, news, features, quizzes and an "insolite" section (weird news stories). Here is a video you could use on poverty with an A-level class (or even a really good GCSE group).
The video goes with an article here.
On the day I checked the Features page covered subjects such as female Nobel prize winners, cannabis, left-handed people, how artistic endeavour is good for your health and animal cruelty.
The News page featured hurricane Harvey, a biodegradable car, an artist who paints false shadows on pavements to confuse people and some of the most amazing but least visited places on the planet. TheLifetyle page had features about makeup, artwork lamps, an artist who creates huge murals outdoors, how to support shy children and sweets which contain harmful nanoparticles.
The Geek page featured mainly TV and film-related video material. The "Insolite" page included this video about how you can be hacked at McDonalds (a good A-level video). The Tests and Quiz page had interactive quizzes about animals, rock bands and farting - yes, farting. They introduce the latter as follows: "Souvent gênantes, parfois drôles, les flatulences font partie intégrante de notre quotidien. C’est quelque chose que nous faisons tous jour après jour. Oui, même les princesses. Mais est-ce que vous êtes certain de tout connaître de ces gaz ? Nous allons voir cela avec un quiz !" The fifteen multi-choice questions give you instant feedback and extra information - the language is well within the scope of A-level students.
The site keeps a Top 100 of its stories based on reader popularity.
So all in all, you'd find interesting material for your own reading and listening, as well as material you could use or adapt with classes. Now to write a worksheet!
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