Chapter 14 of Cosmic Saboteur is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of Cosmic Saboteur is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below. Stan glanced at his watch. Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle. Barely an hour left in which he had to accomplish the impossible. "Look!" somebody shouted.
Chapter 14 of Cosmic Saboteur is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/39 · 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.
put in effect
From this reading “Barely an hour left in which he had to accomplish the impossible.”
only a very short time before
From this reading “Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.”
-ing form of “circle” — travel around something
From this reading “They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.”
group of aircraft operating together under the same ownership
From this reading “They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.”
producing no result or effect
From this reading “Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.”
grossly offensive to decency or morality; causing horror
From this reading “Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.”
(astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light
From this reading “They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.”
past form of “plummet” — drop sharply
From this reading “They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.”
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.
In this reading “Stan glanced at his watch.”
In this reading “They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.”
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 Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.
put in effect
From this reading Barely an hour left in which he had to accomplish the impossible.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Stan glanced at his watch.
only a very short time before
From this reading Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
-ing form of “circle” — travel around something
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
at any time
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
the act of fighting; any contest or struggle
From this reading Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.
group of aircraft operating together under the same ownership
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
producing no result or effect
From this reading Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.
past form of “glance” — throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading Stan glanced at his watch.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Barely an hour left in which he had to accomplish the impossible.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Barely an hour left in which he had to accomplish the impossible.
grossly offensive to decency or morality; causing horror
From this reading Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Stan glanced at his watch.
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.
not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with
From this reading Barely an hour left in which he had to accomplish the impossible.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
take somebody somewhere
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading Barely an hour left in which he had to accomplish the impossible.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading "Look!" somebody shouted.
(astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
past form of “plummet” — drop sharply
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
past form of “remain” — stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.
transport commercially
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
in a vehement outcry
From this reading "Look!" somebody shouted.
a person, without saying who
From this reading "Look!" somebody shouted.
the unlimited expanse in which everything is located
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Stan glanced at his watch.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
in the direction of
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading They plummeted through space, towards the lead ship in the Thuscan fleet that was circling ever closer to the planet below.
look attentively
From this reading Stan glanced at his watch.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Barely an hour left in which he had to accomplish the impossible.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Barely an hour remained before the planet below would be fighting a hideous, futile battle.
Chapter 14 of Cosmic Saboteur by Frank M. Robinson holds 196 sentences, grouped into 40 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 14 holds 196 sentences of Cosmic Saboteur, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of Cosmic Saboteur by Frank M. Robinson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 196 sentences, grouped into 40 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 40 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 40 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 14 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 Cosmic Saboteur by Frank M. Robinson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2111 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #66540 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #66540, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 175 minutes of reading across 423 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Cosmic Saboteur section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of Cosmic Saboteur 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 Cosmic Saboteur, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
