Chapter 1 of Christmas on the Briny is here in full — 291 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Christmas on the Briny is here in full — 291 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Christmas on the Briny. THE INNOCENTS ABROAD. A Holiday Trip to the Abrolhos Islands. By W. B. CHRISTIE. Constantine and Gardner, Printers.
Chapter 1 of Christmas on the Briny is here in full — 291 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/58 · 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.
to or in a foreign country
From this reading “THE INNOCENTS ABROAD.”
prolific English writer of detective stories (1890-1976)
From this reading “By W. B. CHRISTIE.”
Emperor of Rome who stopped the persecution of Christians and in 324 made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire; in 330 he moved his capital from Rome to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople (280-337)
From this reading “Constantine and Gardner, Printers.”
United States collector and patron of art who built a museum in Boston to house her collection and opened it to the public in 1903 (1840-1924)
From this reading “Constantine and Gardner, Printers.”
leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure
From this reading “A Holiday Trip to the Abrolhos Islands.”
plural of “innocent” — a person who lacks knowledge of evil
From this reading “THE INNOCENTS ABROAD.”
plural of “island” — a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
From this reading “A Holiday Trip to the Abrolhos Islands.”
plural of “printer” — someone whose occupation is printing
From this reading “Constantine and Gardner, Printers.”
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 A Holiday Trip to the Abrolhos Islands.
to or in a foreign country
From this reading THE INNOCENTS ABROAD.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A Holiday Trip to the Abrolhos Islands.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Constantine and Gardner, Printers.
aerobic rod-shaped spore-producing bacterium; often occurring in chainlike formations; found primarily in soil
From this reading By W. B. CHRISTIE.
any very large body of (salt) water
From this reading Christmas on the Briny.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading By W. B. CHRISTIE.
prolific English writer of detective stories (1890-1976)
From this reading By W. B. CHRISTIE.
period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6
From this reading Christmas on the Briny.
Emperor of Rome who stopped the persecution of Christians and in 324 made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire; in 330 he moved his capital from Rome to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople (280-337)
From this reading Constantine and Gardner, Printers.
United States collector and patron of art who built a museum in Boston to house her collection and opened it to the public in 1903 (1840-1924)
From this reading Constantine and Gardner, Printers.
leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure
From this reading A Holiday Trip to the Abrolhos Islands.
plural of “innocent” — a person who lacks knowledge of evil
From this reading THE INNOCENTS ABROAD.
plural of “island” — a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
From this reading A Holiday Trip to the Abrolhos Islands.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Christmas on the Briny.
plural of “printer” — someone whose occupation is printing
From this reading Constantine and Gardner, Printers.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Christmas on the Briny.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A Holiday Trip to the Abrolhos Islands.
a journey for some purpose (usually including the return)
From this reading A Holiday Trip to the Abrolhos Islands.
a heavy grey-white metallic element; the pure form is used mainly in electrical applications; it is found in several ores including wolframite and scheelite
From this reading By W. B. CHRISTIE.
Chapter 1 of Christmas on the Briny by W. Bede (William Bede) Christie holds 291 sentences, grouped into 59 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 291 sentences of Christmas on the Briny, unabridged, divided into 59 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Christmas on the Briny by W. Bede (William Bede) Christie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 291 sentences, grouped into 59 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 59 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 59 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 Christmas on the Briny by W. Bede (William Bede) Christie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 291 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56937 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56937, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 24 minutes of reading across 59 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Christmas on the Briny section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of Christmas on the Briny 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 Christmas on the Briny, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
