Chapter 4 of Brain Twister is here in full — 407 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Brain Twister is here in full — 407 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The wait wasn't over fifteen seconds. Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office. The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it. Without ceremony, Boyd pushed the door open. Malone followed him inside.
Chapter 4 of Brain Twister is here in full — 407 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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 formal event performed on a special occasion
From this reading “Without ceremony, Boyd pushed the door open.”
plural of “corner” — a place off to the side of an area
From this reading “Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.”
possessive form of “doctor” — a licensed medical practitioner
From this reading “Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.”
English scholar remembered for his chronology of Shakespeare's plays and his editions of Shakespeare and Dryden (1741-1812)
From this reading “Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.”
past form of “march” — march in a procession
From this reading “Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.”
past form of “push” — move with force
From this reading “Without ceremony, Boyd pushed the door open.”
plural of “second” — 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading “The wait wasn't over fifteen seconds.”
past form of “stencil” — mark or print with a stencil
From this reading “The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it.”
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 Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
a formal event performed on a special occasion
From this reading Without ceremony, Boyd pushed the door open.
plural of “corner” — a place off to the side of an area
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
a pair who associate with one another
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
possessive form of “doctor” — a licensed medical practitioner
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
the cardinal number that is the sum of fourteen and one
From this reading The wait wasn't over fifteen seconds.
past form of “follow” — to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading Malone followed him inside.
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
From this reading The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it.
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Malone followed him inside.
relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
From this reading Malone followed him inside.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it.
English scholar remembered for his chronology of Shakespeare's plays and his editions of Shakespeare and Dryden (1741-1812)
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
past form of “march” — march in a procession
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it.
the property possessed by a sum or total or indefinite quantity of units or individuals
From this reading The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
place of business where professional or clerical duties are performed
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading Without ceremony, Boyd pushed the door open.
above and across; more than
From this reading The wait wasn't over fifteen seconds.
past form of “push” — move with force
From this reading Without ceremony, Boyd pushed the door open.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it.
plural of “second” — 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading The wait wasn't over fifteen seconds.
past form of “stencil” — mark or print with a stencil
From this reading The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The wait wasn't over fifteen seconds.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Boyd and Malone marched down the hall and around a couple of corners, and came to the doctor's office.
stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading The wait wasn't over fifteen seconds.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The wait wasn't over fifteen seconds.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The door was opaqued glass with nothing but a room number stenciled on it.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading Without ceremony, Boyd pushed the door open.
Chapter 4 of Brain Twister by Randall Garrett holds 407 sentences, grouped into 82 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 407 sentences of Brain Twister, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Brain Twister by Randall Garrett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 407 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 Brain Twister by Randall Garrett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4106 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #22332 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #22332, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 342 minutes of reading across 822 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Brain Twister section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of Brain Twister 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 Brain Twister, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
