Chapter 7 of A spectre of power is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of A spectre of power is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer. “He cannot talk at all.” “An enlisted man cannot be dumb,” said the officer with asperity. “No, sir, but he can’t be understood, sir. He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.
Chapter 7 of A spectre of power is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
something hard to endure
From this reading ““An enlisted man cannot be dumb,” said the officer with asperity.”
make by braiding or interlacing
From this reading “He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.”
the Iroquoian language spoken by the Cherokee
From this reading “He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.”
a noncommissioned officer in the Army or Air Force or Marines
From this reading ““Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.”
slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
From this reading ““An enlisted man cannot be dumb,” said the officer with asperity.”
past form of “enlist” — join the military
From this reading ““An enlisted man cannot be dumb,” said the officer with asperity.”
unintelligible talking
From this reading “He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.”
a slight surface cut (especially a notch that is made to keep a tally)
From this reading “He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading ““Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.”
In this reading ““Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.”
In this reading ““An enlisted man cannot be dumb,” said the officer with asperity.”
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 “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading “He cannot talk at all.”
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading “An enlisted man cannot be dumb,” said the officer with asperity.
something hard to endure
From this reading “An enlisted man cannot be dumb,” said the officer with asperity.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading “He cannot talk at all.”
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “An enlisted man cannot be dumb,” said the officer with asperity.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
make by braiding or interlacing
From this reading He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “No, sir, but he can’t be understood, sir.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “No, sir, but he can’t be understood, sir.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “He cannot talk at all.”
the Iroquoian language spoken by the Cherokee
From this reading He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.
a noncommissioned officer in the Army or Air Force or Marines
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
From this reading “An enlisted man cannot be dumb,” said the officer with asperity.
an Indo-European language belonging to the West Germanic branch; the official language of Britain and the United States and most of the commonwealth countries
From this reading He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.
past form of “enlist” — join the military
From this reading “An enlisted man cannot be dumb,” said the officer with asperity.
divisible by two
From this reading He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.
unintelligible talking
From this reading He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
the production of eggs (especially in birds)
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “An enlisted man cannot be dumb,” said the officer with asperity.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
not any; not one
From this reading “No, sir, but he can’t be understood, sir.
and not; used after a negative to add a second negative
From this reading He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.
any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
a slight surface cut (especially a notch that is made to keep a tally)
From this reading He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.
term of address for a man
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
of high or superior quality or performance
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading “He cannot talk at all.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “Lord, sir, he is a poor creature!” said the corporal, laying the matter before his superior officer.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.
fully apprehended as to purport or meaning or explanation
From this reading “No, sir, but he can’t be understood, sir.
in the company of; together with
From this reading “An enlisted man cannot be dumb,” said the officer with asperity.
but in spite of that
From this reading He can talk no English, nor even the gibberish they call ‘braid Scotch,’ nor yet Cherokee.
Chapter 7 of A spectre of power by Charles Egbert Craddock holds 410 sentences, grouped into 82 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, 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 7 holds 410 sentences of A spectre of power, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of A spectre of power by Charles Egbert Craddock exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 410 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 7 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.
Common questions about reading A spectre of power by Charles Egbert Craddock on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4912 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #76105 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #76105, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 409 minutes of reading across 983 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A spectre of power section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of A spectre of power 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 spectre of power, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
