Chapter 7 of Beyond the Vanishing Point is here in full — 301 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of Beyond the Vanishing Point is here in full — 301 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The trees around us expanded to towering forest giants. The underbrush rose up over our heads. We had taken a taste of the diminishing drug. Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller. It took us no more than a minute to diminish.
Chapter 7 of Beyond the Vanishing Point is here in full — 301 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/60 · 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.
alter or regulate so as to achieve accuracy or conform to a standard
From this reading “Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.”
decrease in size, extent, or range
From this reading “It took us no more than a minute to diminish.”
becoming smaller or less or appearing to do so
From this reading “We had taken a taste of the diminishing drug.”
administer a drug to
From this reading “We had taken a taste of the diminishing drug.”
increased in extent or size or bulk or scope
From this reading “The trees around us expanded to towering forest giants.”
plural of “giant” — any creature of exceptional size
From this reading “The trees around us expanded to towering forest giants.”
of imposing height; especially standing out above others
From this reading “The trees around us expanded to towering forest giants.”
the brush (small trees and bushes and ferns etc.) growing beneath taller trees in a wood or forest
From this reading “The underbrush rose up over our heads.”
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 We had taken a taste of the diminishing drug.
alter or regulate so as to achieve accuracy or conform to a standard
From this reading Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading The trees around us expanded to towering forest giants.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.
inflected form of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.
decrease in size, extent, or range
From this reading It took us no more than a minute to diminish.
becoming smaller or less or appearing to do so
From this reading We had taken a taste of the diminishing drug.
administer a drug to
From this reading We had taken a taste of the diminishing drug.
increased in extent or size or bulk or scope
From this reading The trees around us expanded to towering forest giants.
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading The trees around us expanded to towering forest giants.
plural of “giant” — any creature of exceptional size
From this reading The trees around us expanded to towering forest giants.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading We had taken a taste of the diminishing drug.
plural of “head” — the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading The underbrush rose up over our heads.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.
a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour
From this reading It took us no more than a minute to diminish.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading It took us no more than a minute to diminish.
not any; not one
From this reading It took us no more than a minute to diminish.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading We had taken a taste of the diminishing drug.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading The underbrush rose up over our heads.
above and across; more than
From this reading The underbrush rose up over our heads.
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading The underbrush rose up over our heads.
(used with count nouns) of an indefinite number more than 2 or 3 but not many
From this reading Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.
past form of “show” — give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.
the physical magnitude of something (how big it is)
From this reading Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.
small or little relative to something else
From this reading Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading We had taken a taste of the diminishing drug.
To perceive flavor through the mouth.
From this reading We had taken a taste of the diminishing drug.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading It took us no more than a minute to diminish.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The trees around us expanded to towering forest giants.
a more or less definite period of time now or previously present
From this reading Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The trees around us expanded to towering forest giants.
a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
From this reading Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading It took us no more than a minute to diminish.
make physical contact with, come in contact with
From this reading Glora showed us how to touch it to our tongue several times, to adjust our size as we became smaller.
of imposing height; especially standing out above others
From this reading The trees around us expanded to towering forest giants.
plural of “tree” — a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading The trees around us expanded to towering forest giants.
the brush (small trees and bushes and ferns etc.) growing beneath taller trees in a wood or forest
From this reading The underbrush rose up over our heads.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The underbrush rose up over our heads.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The trees around us expanded to towering forest giants.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We had taken a taste of the diminishing drug.
Chapter 7 of Beyond the Vanishing Point by Ray Cummings holds 301 sentences, grouped into 61 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 7 holds 301 sentences of Beyond the Vanishing Point, unabridged, divided into 61 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of Beyond the Vanishing Point by Ray Cummings exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 301 sentences, grouped into 61 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 61 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 61 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 7 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 Beyond the Vanishing Point by Ray Cummings on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2928 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #22527 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #22527, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 244 minutes of reading across 586 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Beyond the Vanishing Point section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of Beyond the Vanishing Point 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 Beyond the Vanishing Point, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
