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.
Why, the room seems furnished with nothing in it! How's that, George?” “It's the proportions. I've noticed it.” “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
Chapter 1 of Actions and reactions is here in full — 213 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 30/42 · 5 reading units · Lines 146–150
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.
either side of the face below the eyes
From this reading ““I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.”
carefully weighed
From this reading ““I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.”
an upholstered seat for more than one person
From this reading ““I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.”
feel or handle with the fingers
From this reading ““I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.”
having the pinkish flush of health
From this reading ““I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.”
provided with whatever is necessary for a purpose (as furniture or equipment or authority)
From this reading “Why, the room seems furnished with nothing in it!”
being perceived or observed
From this reading “I've noticed it.””
plural of “proportion” — the quotient obtained when the magnitude of a part is divided by the magnitude of the whole
From this reading ““It's the proportions.”
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 saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
either side of the face below the eyes
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
carefully weighed
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
an upholstered seat for more than one person
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
feel or handle with the fingers
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
having the pinkish flush of health
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
provided with whatever is necessary for a purpose (as furniture or equipment or authority)
From this reading Why, the room seems furnished with nothing in it!
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 How's that, George?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How's that, George?”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I've noticed it.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Why, the room seems furnished with nothing in it!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Why, the room seems furnished with nothing in it!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “It's the proportions.
set down according to a plan
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Why, the room seems furnished with nothing in it!
being perceived or observed
From this reading I've noticed it.”
on one occasion
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
plural of “proportion” — the quotient obtained when the magnitude of a part is divided by the magnitude of the whole
From this reading “It's the proportions.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading Why, the room seems furnished with nothing in it!
cut with a saw
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
third-person singular of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading Why, the room seems furnished with nothing in it!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading How's that, George?”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Why, the room seems furnished with nothing in it!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “I saw a Heppelwhite couch once”--Sophie laid her finger to her flushed cheek and considered.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why, the room seems furnished with nothing in it!
in the company of; together with
From this reading Why, the room seems furnished with nothing in it!
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.
