Chapter 1 of A Voyage with Captain Dynamite is here in full — 110 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of A Voyage with Captain Dynamite is here in full — 110 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Let go the jib halliards, Mason. Lay out there, Bert, and get in that slack sail. It's blowing a bit. Gee, see that bank of wind coming up." The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
Chapter 1 of A Voyage with Captain Dynamite is here in full — 110 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/22 · 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.
the amount that many barrels might hold
From this reading “The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.”
a signal transmitted along a narrow path; guides airplane pilots in darkness or bad weather
From this reading “The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.”
past form of “careen” — walk as if unable to control one's movements
From this reading “The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.”
a unit of force equal to the force exerted by gravity; used to indicate the force to which a body is subjected when it is accelerated
From this reading “Gee, see that bank of wind coming up."”
refuse to comply
From this reading “"Let go the jib halliards, Mason.”
American Revolutionary leader from Virginia whose objections led to the drafting of the Bill of Rights (1725-1792)
From this reading “"Let go the jib halliards, Mason.”
smoke and exhale strongly
From this reading “The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.”
not tense or taut
From this reading “Lay out there, Bert, and get in that slack sail.”
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's blowing a bit.
on a ship, train, plane or other vehicle
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Lay out there, Bert, and get in that slack sail.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water)
From this reading Gee, see that bank of wind coming up."
the amount that many barrels might hold
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
a signal transmitted along a narrow path; guides airplane pilots in darkness or bad weather
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Lay out there, Bert, and get in that slack sail.
a small piece or quantity of something
From this reading It's blowing a bit.
processing that involves blowing a gas
From this reading It's blowing a bit.
a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
past form of “careen” — walk as if unable to control one's movements
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading Gee, see that bank of wind coming up."
plural of “end” — either extremity of something that has length
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
having a face or facing especially of a specified kind or number; often used in combination
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
a unit of force equal to the force exerted by gravity; used to indicate the force to which a body is subjected when it is accelerated
From this reading Gee, see that bank of wind coming up."
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Lay out there, Bert, and get in that slack sail.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading "Let go the jib halliards, Mason.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Let go the jib halliards, Mason.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Lay out there, Bert, and get in that slack sail.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's blowing a bit.
refuse to comply
From this reading "Let go the jib halliards, Mason.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Lay out there, Bert, and get in that slack sail.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading "Let go the jib halliards, Mason.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
American Revolutionary leader from Virginia whose objections led to the drafting of the Bill of Rights (1725-1792)
From this reading "Let go the jib halliards, Mason.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Gee, see that bank of wind coming up."
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Lay out there, Bert, and get in that slack sail.
a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
smoke and exhale strongly
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
traverse or travel on (a body of water)
From this reading Lay out there, Bert, and get in that slack sail.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Gee, see that bank of wind coming up."
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
not tense or taut
From this reading Lay out there, Bert, and get in that slack sail.
happening without warning or in a short space of time
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Lay out there, Bert, and get in that slack sail.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Let go the jib halliards, Mason.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Lay out there, Bert, and get in that slack sail.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Gee, see that bank of wind coming up."
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 The little pleasure boat careened and took aboard a few barrels of water as she faced a sudden puff of wind that almost put her on her beam ends.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading Gee, see that bank of wind coming up."
Chapter 1 of A Voyage with Captain Dynamite by Charles Edward Rich holds 110 sentences, grouped into 22 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 1 holds 110 sentences of A Voyage with Captain Dynamite, unabridged, divided into 22 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of A Voyage with Captain Dynamite by Charles Edward Rich exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 110 sentences, grouped into 22 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 22 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 22 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 1 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 Voyage with Captain Dynamite by Charles Edward Rich on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4177 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #25144 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #25144, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 348 minutes of reading across 836 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Voyage with Captain Dynamite section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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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 Voyage with Captain Dynamite, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
