Chapter 1 of Death Walks on Mars is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Death Walks on Mars is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune. But others came too, ready to prove-- There was death above. The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air. There was death below. The man lay cradled in the pebbly sand.
Chapter 1 of Death Walks on Mars is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/77 · 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.
capable of wounding
From this reading “The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.”
possessive form of “earth” — the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading “Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.”
imaginary people who live on the planet Mars
From this reading “The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.”
plural of “pioneer” — someone who helps to open up a new line of research or technology or art
From this reading “Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.”
having the qualities or effects of a poison
From this reading “The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.”
past form of “swoop” — move down on as if in an attack
From this reading “The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.”
past form of “twitch” — make an uncontrolled, short, jerky motion
From this reading “The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.”
any of various large diurnal birds of prey having naked heads and weak claws and feeding chiefly on carrion
From this reading “The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.”
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.
nowhere to be found in a giant void
In this reading “The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.”
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.
higher than, or over, something
From this reading But others came too, ready to prove-- There was death above.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
capable of wounding
From this reading The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading There was death below.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But others came too, ready to prove-- There was death above.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The man lay cradled in the pebbly sand.
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading But others came too, ready to prove-- There was death above.
possessive form of “earth” — the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
past form of “hiss” — make a sharp hissing sound, as if to show disapproval
From this reading The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading The man lay cradled in the pebbly sand.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The man lay cradled in the pebbly sand.
imaginary people who live on the planet Mars
From this reading The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But others came too, ready to prove-- There was death above.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
abounding in small stones
From this reading The man lay cradled in the pebbly sand.
plural of “pioneer” — someone who helps to open up a new line of research or technology or art
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
(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 Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
having the qualities or effects of a poison
From this reading The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.
be shown or be found to be
From this reading But others came too, ready to prove-- There was death above.
completely prepared or in condition for immediate action or use or progress
From this reading But others came too, ready to prove-- There was death above.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
From this reading The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.
the act of searching for something
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
past form of “swoop” — move down on as if in an attack
From this reading The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.
the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body
From this reading The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.
English actress (1847-1928)
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
in or at that place or location
From this reading But others came too, ready to prove-- There was death above.
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading But others came too, ready to prove-- There was death above.
past form of “twitch” — make an uncontrolled, short, jerky motion
From this reading The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.
any of various large diurnal birds of prey having naked heads and weak claws and feeding chiefly on carrion
From this reading The Martian Sand Vulture swooped and hissed and twitched its barbed, poisonous tail in the thin air.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading But others came too, ready to prove-- There was death above.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading Like pioneers in Earth's past, Terry and his wife came to the red planet seeking their fortune.
Chapter 1 of Death Walks on Mars by Alan J. Ramm holds 388 sentences, grouped into 78 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 388 sentences of Death Walks on Mars, unabridged, divided into 78 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Death Walks on Mars by Alan J. Ramm exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 388 sentences, grouped into 78 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 78 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 78 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 Death Walks on Mars by Alan J. Ramm on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Death Walks on Mars section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Death Walks on Mars 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 Death Walks on Mars, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
