Chapter 1 of Actions and reactions is here in full — 213 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Actions and reactions is here in full — 213 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers. “I thought all England was a garden. There's your spire, George, across the valley. How curious!” They walked toward it through an all-abandoned land.
Chapter 1 of Actions and reactions is here in full — 213 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 17/42 · 5 reading units · Lines 81–85
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.
beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
From this reading “How curious!””
a plot of ground where plants are cultivated
From this reading ““I thought all England was a garden.”
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading “There's your spire, George, across the valley.”
curved down like an eagle's beak
From this reading ““No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.”
a partly sheltered anchorage
From this reading ““No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.”
cloth covering that forms the part of a garment below the waist
From this reading ““No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.”
a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building (usually a church or temple) and that tapers to a point at the top
From this reading “There's your spire, George, across the valley.”
a long depression in the surface of the land that usually contains a river
From this reading “There's your spire, George, across the valley.”
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 “I thought all England was a garden.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading There's your spire, George, across the valley.
(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 “I thought all England was a garden.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They walked toward it through an all-abandoned land.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading They walked toward it through an all-abandoned land.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading “No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.
beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
From this reading How curious!”
a division of the United Kingdom
From this reading “I thought all England was a garden.
a plot of ground where plants are cultivated
From this reading “I thought all England was a garden.
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading There's your spire, George, across the valley.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading “No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.
curved down like an eagle's beak
From this reading “No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How curious!”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I thought all England was a garden.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading They walked toward it through an all-abandoned land.
the land on which real estate is located
From this reading They walked toward it through an all-abandoned land.
not any; not one
From this reading “No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading “No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.
a partly sheltered anchorage
From this reading “No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading “No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.
cloth covering that forms the part of a garment below the waist
From this reading “No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “No roads, no nothing!” said Sophie, her short skirt hooked by briers.
a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building (usually a church or temple) and that tapers to a point at the top
From this reading There's your spire, George, across the valley.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading There's your spire, George, across the valley.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There's your spire, George, across the valley.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They walked toward it through an all-abandoned land.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading “I thought all England was a garden.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading They walked toward it through an all-abandoned land.
in the direction of
From this reading They walked toward it through an all-abandoned land.
a long depression in the surface of the land that usually contains a river
From this reading There's your spire, George, across the valley.
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading They walked toward it through an all-abandoned land.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “I thought all England was a garden.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading There's your spire, George, across the valley.
Chapter 1 of Actions and reactions by Rudyard Kipling holds 213 sentences, grouped into 43 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 213 sentences of Actions and reactions, unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Actions and reactions by Rudyard Kipling exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 213 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 Actions and reactions by Rudyard Kipling on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4931 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2381 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2381, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 410 minutes of reading across 987 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Actions and reactions section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of Actions and reactions 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 Actions and reactions, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
