Chapter 20 of A Journey into the Interior of the Earth is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of A Journey into the Interior of the Earth is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery. Hans walked first as was his custom. We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried: "Here are primitive rocks. Now we are in the right way.
Chapter 20 of A Journey into the Interior of the Earth is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/13 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
past form of “commence” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading “TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.”
An action of moving downward, dropping, or falling into a deeper place.
From this reading “TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.”
an act that fails
From this reading “TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.”
spectators at a golf or tennis match
From this reading “TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.”
plural of “han” — imperial dynasty that ruled China (most of the time from 206 BC to AD 220) and expanded its boundaries and developed its bureaucracy; remembered as one of the great eras of Chinese civilization
From this reading “Hans walked first as was his custom.”
light in a transparent protective case
From this reading “We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:”
belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness
From this reading “"Here are primitive rocks.”
add up in number or quantity
From this reading “TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
following the length of something from one end toward the other
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "Here are primitive rocks.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Hans walked first as was his custom.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.
past form of “commence” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
accepted or habitual practice
From this reading Hans walked first as was his custom.
An action of moving downward, dropping, or falling into a deeper place.
From this reading TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.
an act that fails
From this reading TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Hans walked first as was his custom.
spectators at a golf or tennis match
From this reading TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.
destroyed or killed
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
plural of “han” — imperial dynasty that ruled China (most of the time from 206 BC to AD 220) and expanded its boundaries and developed its bureaucracy; remembered as one of the great eras of Chinese civilization
From this reading Hans walked first as was his custom.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading "Here are primitive rocks.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Hans walked first as was his custom.
ten 10s
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Now we are in the right way.
light in a transparent protective case
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
in motion
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now we are in the right way.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.
belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness
From this reading "Here are primitive rocks.
someone who is a member of the faculty at a college or university
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
precisely, exactly
From this reading Now we are in the right way.
plural of “rock” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading "Here are primitive rocks.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.
add up in number or quantity
From this reading TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading Hans walked first as was his custom.
plural of “wall” — an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Hans walked first as was his custom.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading TOTAL FAILURE OF WATER This time the descent commenced by the new gallery.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Now we are in the right way.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
at the time that
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
plural of “yard” — a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried:
Chapter 20 of A Journey into the Interior of the Earth by Jules Verne holds 67 sentences, grouped into 14 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 20 holds 67 sentences of A Journey into the Interior of the Earth, unabridged, divided into 14 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of A Journey into the Interior of the Earth by Jules Verne exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 67 sentences, grouped into 14 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 14 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 14 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 20 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
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Yes. All 4851 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3748 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3748, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 404 minutes of reading across 971 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Journey into the Interior of the Earth section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of A Journey into the Interior of the Earth to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in A Journey into the Interior of the Earth, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
