The Macmillan Guided Readers provide a choice of enjoyable reading material for learners of English. The series is published at five levels - Starter, Beginner, Elementary, Intermediate and Upper. At Elementary Level, the control of content and language has the following main features: INFORMATION CONTROL: Stories have straightforward plots and a restricted number of main characters. Information which is vital to the understanding of the story is clearly presented and repeated when necessary. Difficult allusion and metaphor are avoided and cultural backgrounds are made explicit. STRUCTURE CONTROL: Students will meet those grammatical features which they have already been taught in their elementary course of studies. Other grammatical features occasionally occur with which the students may not be so familiar, but their use is made clear through context and reinforcement. This ensures that the reading as well as being enjoyable provides a continual learning situation for the students. Sentences are kept short - a maximum of two clauses in nearly all cases - and within sentences there is a balanced use of simple adverbial and adjectival phrases. Great care is taken with pronoun reference. VOCABULARY CONTROL: At Elementary Level there is a limited use of a carefully controlled vocabulary of approximately 1,100 basic words. At the same time, students are given some opportunity to meet new or unfamiliar words in contexts where their meaning is obvious. The meaning of words introduced in this way is reinforced by repetition. Help is also given to the students in the form of vivid illustrations which are very closely related to the text.