This article is devoted to the development of the reading skills as one of the main aims of teaching a foreign language. The emphasis is on the computer mediated strategies including operation with free digital resources. The characteristics of some academic web-sites (breakingnewsenglish.com, readingcomprehensionconnection.com, busyteacher.org, readinga-z.com) are described as well as teacher's work stages with these sites. Examples of tasks for teaching different types of reading and vocabulary are given.