Chapter 1 of An Incident on Route 12 is here in full — 123 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of An Incident on Route 12 is here in full — 123 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He was already a thief, prepared to steal again. He didn't know that he himself was only booty! Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises. They came from under the Packard's hood. The car immediately began to lose speed.
Chapter 1 of An Incident on Route 12 is here in full — 123 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/24 · 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.
goods or money obtained illegally
From this reading “He didn't know that he himself was only booty!”
having a hard nonresonant metallic sound
From this reading “Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.”
20th President of the United States; assassinated by a frustrated office-seeker (1831-1881)
From this reading “Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.”
an aggressive and violent young criminal
From this reading “They came from under the Packard's hood.”
plural of “noise” — sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound)
From this reading “Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.”
an established line of travel or access
From this reading “Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.”
take without the owner's consent
From this reading “He was already a thief, prepared to steal again.”
a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it
From this reading “He was already a thief, prepared to steal again.”
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 He was already a thief, prepared to steal again.
anew
From this reading He was already a thief, prepared to steal again.
prior to a specified or implied time
From this reading He was already a thief, prepared to steal again.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading The car immediately began to lose speed.
goods or money obtained illegally
From this reading He didn't know that he himself was only booty!
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading They came from under the Packard's hood.
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading The car immediately began to lose speed.
having a hard nonresonant metallic sound
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He didn't know that he himself was only booty!
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading They came from under the Packard's hood.
20th President of the United States; assassinated by a frustrated office-seeker (1831-1881)
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was already a thief, prepared to steal again.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading He didn't know that he himself was only booty!
an aggressive and violent young criminal
From this reading They came from under the Packard's hood.
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
From this reading The car immediately began to lose speed.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading He didn't know that he himself was only booty!
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
From this reading The car immediately began to lose speed.
plural of “mile” — a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
plural of “noise” — sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound)
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
and nothing more
From this reading He didn't know that he himself was only booty!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They came from under the Packard's hood.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
made ready or fit or suitable beforehand
From this reading He was already a thief, prepared to steal again.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
an established line of travel or access
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
similar things placed in order or happening one after another
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
(of something seen or heard) clearly defined
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
the region of the United States lying to the south of the Mason-Dixon line
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
move hurridly
From this reading The car immediately began to lose speed.
excited by sudden surprise or alarm and making a quick involuntary movement
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
take without the owner's consent
From this reading He was already a thief, prepared to steal again.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He didn't know that he himself was only booty!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They came from under the Packard's hood.
a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it
From this reading He was already a thief, prepared to steal again.
the cardinal number that is the product of ten and three
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He was already a thief, prepared to steal again.
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
the cardinal number that is the sum of eleven and one
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading They came from under the Packard's hood.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was already a thief, prepared to steal again.
at the time that
From this reading Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
Chapter 1 of An Incident on Route 12 by James H. Schmitz holds 123 sentences, grouped into 25 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 123 sentences of An Incident on Route 12, unabridged, divided into 25 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of An Incident on Route 12 by James H. Schmitz exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 123 sentences, grouped into 25 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 25 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 25 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 An Incident on Route 12 by James H. Schmitz on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 123 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #21897 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #21897, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 10 minutes of reading across 25 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through An Incident on Route 12 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of An Incident on Route 12 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 An Incident on Route 12, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
