Chapter 1 of Benton's Venture is here in full — 192 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Benton's Venture is here in full — 192 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Want to buy an automobile, son?” Tom Benton smiled and shook his head. “All right,” pursued the man good-naturedly. “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car. She’s a bargain.”
Chapter 1 of Benton's Venture is here in full — 192 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading ““Want to buy an automobile, son?””
an agreement between parties (usually arrived at after discussion) fixing obligations of each
From this reading “She’s a bargain.””
United States artist whose paintings portrayed life in the Midwest and South (1889-1975)
From this reading “Tom Benton smiled and shook his head.”
obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
From this reading ““Want to buy an automobile, son?””
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading ““I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.”
in a good-natured manner
From this reading ““All right,” pursued the man good-naturedly.”
a person who is being chased
From this reading ““All right,” pursued the man good-naturedly.”
nonexistent
From this reading ““I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.”
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.
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 you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
(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 “All right,” pursued the man good-naturedly.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading “Want to buy an automobile, son?”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Tom Benton smiled and shook his head.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading “Want to buy an automobile, son?”
an agreement between parties (usually arrived at after discussion) fixing obligations of each
From this reading She’s a bargain.”
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
United States artist whose paintings portrayed life in the Midwest and South (1889-1975)
From this reading Tom Benton smiled and shook his head.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
From this reading “Want to buy an automobile, son?”
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
in a good-natured manner
From this reading “All right,” pursued the man good-naturedly.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Tom Benton smiled and shook his head.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Tom Benton smiled and shook his head.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “All right,” pursued the man good-naturedly.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
a person who is being chased
From this reading “All right,” pursued the man good-naturedly.
precisely, exactly
From this reading “All right,” pursued the man good-naturedly.
cut with a saw
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She’s a bargain.”
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading Tom Benton smiled and shook his head.
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading Tom Benton smiled and shook his head.
a male human offspring
From this reading “Want to buy an automobile, son?”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “All right,” pursued the man good-naturedly.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Want to buy an automobile, son?”
male cat
From this reading Tom Benton smiled and shook his head.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading “Want to buy an automobile, son?”
nonexistent
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “I saw you looking at it, and I didn’t know but you might be wanting a good car.
Chapter 1 of Benton's Venture by Ralph Henry Barbour holds 192 sentences, grouped into 39 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 192 sentences of Benton's Venture, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Benton's Venture by Ralph Henry Barbour exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 192 sentences, grouped into 39 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 39 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 39 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 Benton's Venture by Ralph Henry Barbour on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5144 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #66533 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #66533, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 428 minutes of reading across 1029 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Benton's Venture section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of Benton's Venture 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 Benton's Venture, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
