Chapter 4 of Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly. "Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road. Zeppelins, by smoke! Whoever would have thought it? I didn't; not this side of the Pennines."
Chapter 4 of Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 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 “"Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.”
without question and beyond doubt
From this reading “WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.”
made known or openly avowed
From this reading “WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.”
the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading “WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.”
select carefully from a group
From this reading “"Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.”
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading “Zeppelins, by smoke!”
except if; if not
From this reading “"Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.”
German inventor who designed and built the first rigid motorized dirigible (1838-1917)
From this reading “WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.”
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.
travelling about
In this reading “"Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.”
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 "Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Zeppelins, by smoke!
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading "Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading "Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.
without question and beyond doubt
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
made known or openly avowed
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I didn't; not this side of the Pennines."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I didn't; not this side of the Pennines."
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I didn't; not this side of the Pennines."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I didn't; not this side of the Pennines."
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
a system of hills in Britain that extend from the Scottish border in the north to the Trent River in the south; forms the watershed for English rivers
From this reading I didn't; not this side of the Pennines."
select carefully from a group
From this reading "Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading "Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading I didn't; not this side of the Pennines."
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading Zeppelins, by smoke!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading I didn't; not this side of the Pennines."
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Whoever would have thought it?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
except if; if not
From this reading "Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading "Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "Unless we can get a car to pick us up on the road.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
at the time that
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Whoever would have thought it?
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Whoever would have thought it?
German inventor who designed and built the first rigid motorized dirigible (1838-1917)
From this reading WHEN THE ZEPPELIN WAS OUT "WE'LL have to foot it, man," declared Entwistle decidedly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Zeppelins, by smoke!
Chapter 4 of Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman holds 173 sentences, grouped into 35 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 4 holds 173 sentences of Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S., unabridged, divided into 35 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 173 sentences, grouped into 35 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 35 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 35 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 4 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 Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5519 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #35362 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #35362, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 459 minutes of reading across 1104 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. 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 Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S., each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
