Chapter 3 of Conservation Reader is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Conservation Reader is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Once in a long time it rains in this desert. Then the drops descend furiously. The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes. They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil. The winds also help keep the desert rocks bare and free of soil.
Chapter 3 of Conservation Reader is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
From this reading “Then the drops descend furiously.”
(of the elements) in a wild and stormy manner
From this reading “Then the drops descend furiously.”
plural of “gather” — sewing consisting of small folds or puckers made by pulling tight a thread in a line of stitching
From this reading “The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.”
plural of “particle” — (nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything
From this reading “They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.”
plural of “rain” — water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere
From this reading “Once in a long time it rains in this desert.”
the condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage
From this reading “They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.”
plural of “slope” — an elevated geological formation
From this reading “The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.”
plural of “torrent” — a heavy rain
From this reading “The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.”
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.
remove from a certain place, environment, or mental or emotional state; transport into a new location or state
In this reading “They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.”
a prolonged period of time
In this reading “Once in a long time it rains in this desert.”
In this reading “The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.”
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 Once in a long time it rains in this desert.
in addition
From this reading The winds also help keep the desert rocks bare and free of soil.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
completely unclothed
From this reading The winds also help keep the desert rocks bare and free of soil.
move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
a very fine-grained soil that is plastic when moist but hard when fired
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
From this reading Then the drops descend furiously.
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading Once in a long time it rains in this desert.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.
plural of “drop” — a shape that is spherical and small
From this reading Then the drops descend furiously.
grant freedom to; free from confinement
From this reading The winds also help keep the desert rocks bare and free of soil.
(of the elements) in a wild and stormy manner
From this reading Then the drops descend furiously.
plural of “gather” — sewing consisting of small folds or puckers made by pulling tight a thread in a line of stitching
From this reading The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.
give help or assistance; be of service
From this reading The winds also help keep the desert rocks bare and free of soil.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Once in a long time it rains in this desert.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Once in a long time it rains in this desert.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading The winds also help keep the desert rocks bare and free of soil.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Once in a long time it rains in this desert.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
on one occasion
From this reading Once in a long time it rains in this desert.
plural of “particle” — (nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
put or set (seeds, seedlings, or plants) into the ground
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
plural of “rain” — water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere
From this reading Once in a long time it rains in this desert.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.
plural of “rock” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading The winds also help keep the desert rocks bare and free of soil.
the condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
plural of “slope” — an elevated geological formation
From this reading The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.
the state of being covered with unclean things
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
sweep across or over
From this reading The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Then the drops descend furiously.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then the drops descend furiously.
in or at that place or location
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Once in a long time it rains in this desert.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Once in a long time it rains in this desert.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.
plural of “torrent” — a heavy rain
From this reading The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.
change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense
From this reading The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading The water gathers in rivulets and these turn to torrents which sweep down the slopes.
plural of “wind” — air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading The winds also help keep the desert rocks bare and free of soil.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading They carry away the particles of sand and clay which would in time, if there were plant roots to hold them, turn to soil.
Chapter 3 of Conservation Reader by Harold W. (Harold Wellman) Fairbanks holds 424 sentences, grouped into 85 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 3 holds 424 sentences of Conservation Reader, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Conservation Reader by Harold W. (Harold Wellman) Fairbanks exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 424 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 3 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 Conservation Reader by Harold W. (Harold Wellman) Fairbanks on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2525 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26935 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26935, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 210 minutes of reading across 505 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Conservation Reader section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of Conservation Reader 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 Conservation Reader, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
