Chapter 7 of A Trace of Memory is here in full — 267 sentences across 54 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of A Trace of Memory is here in full — 267 sentences across 54 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside. It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed. Foster was wedged in the opening. I scrambled down beside him, tugged him back to the level ground. He was still breathing; that was something.
Chapter 7 of A Trace of Memory is here in full — 267 sentences across 54 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/53 · 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.
promote the growth of
From this reading “Foster was wedged in the opening.”
plural of “globe” — the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading “It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.”
thrown together in a disorderly fashion
From this reading “I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside.”
past form of “shelve” — hold back to a later time
From this reading “It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.”
having an oblique or slanted direction
From this reading “It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.”
past form of “swarm” — be teeming, be abuzz
From this reading “It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.”
inflected form of “tug” — pull hard
From this reading “I scrambled down beside him, tugged him back to the level ground.”
wedged or packed in together
From this reading “Foster was wedged in the opening.”
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.
a place suitable for hiding something (such as yourself)
In this reading “It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.”
In this reading “I scrambled down beside him, tugged him back to the level ground.”
In this reading “He was still breathing; that was something.”
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 It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
next to; at the side of
From this reading I scrambled down beside him, tugged him back to the level ground.
the bodily process of inhalation and exhalation; the process of taking in oxygen from inhaled air and releasing carbon dioxide by exhalation
From this reading He was still breathing; that was something.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
the boundary of a surface
From this reading I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside.
promote the growth of
From this reading Foster was wedged in the opening.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
plural of “globe” — the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
the solid part of the earth's surface
From this reading I scrambled down beside him, tugged him back to the level ground.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was still breathing; that was something.
the activity of keeping something secret
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I scrambled down beside him, tugged him back to the level ground.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Foster was wedged in the opening.
relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
From this reading I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality
From this reading I scrambled down beside him, tugged him back to the level ground.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside.
the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
an open or empty space in or between things
From this reading Foster was wedged in the opening.
A large hole in the ground, or an abyss of darkness and peril.
From this reading I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
(of games) engaged in
From this reading I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside.
thrown together in a disorderly fashion
From this reading I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside.
past form of “shelve” — hold back to a later time
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
past form of “show” — give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
having an oblique or slanted direction
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading He was still breathing; that was something.
not in physical motion
From this reading He was still breathing; that was something.
past form of “swarm” — be teeming, be abuzz
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He was still breathing; that was something.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I scrambled to the edge of the pit and played the light around inside.
inflected form of “tug” — pull hard
From this reading I scrambled down beside him, tugged him back to the level ground.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Foster was wedged in the opening.
wedged or packed in together
From this reading Foster was wedged in the opening.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading It shelved back at one side, and a dark mouth showed, sloping down into the earth--the hiding place from which the globes had swarmed.
Chapter 7 of A Trace of Memory by Keith Laumer holds 267 sentences, grouped into 54 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 267 sentences of A Trace of Memory, unabridged, divided into 54 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of A Trace of Memory by Keith Laumer exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 267 sentences, grouped into 54 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 54 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 54 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 Trace of Memory by Keith Laumer on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5506 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #51712 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #51712, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 458 minutes of reading across 1102 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Trace of Memory section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of A Trace of Memory 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 Trace of Memory, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
