Chapter 1 of Dick in the Desert is here in full — 141 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Dick in the Desert is here in full — 141 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SUNSHINE LIBRARY. DEAR LITTLE MARCHIONESS. The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE. By Emma Gellibrand .50 LADDIE. By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.
Chapter 1 of Dick in the Desert is here in full — 141 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 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.
state capital and largest city of Massachusetts; a major center for banking and financial services
From this reading “By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.”
possessive form of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading “The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE.”
a hardy cabbage with coarse curly leaves that do not form a head
From this reading “The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE.”
a room where books are kept
From this reading “SUNSHINE LIBRARY.”
the wife or widow of a marquis
From this reading “DEAR LITTLE MARCHIONESS.”
an organization of missionaries in a foreign land sent to carry on religious work
From this reading “By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.”
the rays of the sun
From this reading “SUNSHINE LIBRARY.”
United States clockmaker who introduced mass production (1785-1859)
From this reading “By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.”
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 “By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE.
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.
state capital and largest city of Massachusetts; a major center for banking and financial services
From this reading By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading By Emma Gellibrand .50 LADDIE.
possessive form of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE.
a hardy cabbage with coarse curly leaves that do not form a head
From this reading The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE.
an institution created to conduct business
From this reading By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.
dearly loved
From this reading DEAR LITTLE MARCHIONESS.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading By Emma Gellibrand .50 LADDIE.
a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny
From this reading The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading By Emma Gellibrand .50 LADDIE.
a unit of electrical energy equal to the work done when a current of one ampere passes through a resistance of one ohm for one second
From this reading The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE.
a male child (a familiar term of address to a boy)
From this reading By Emma Gellibrand .50 LADDIE.
a room where books are kept
From this reading SUNSHINE LIBRARY.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading DEAR LITTLE MARCHIONESS.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE.
the wife or widow of a marquis
From this reading DEAR LITTLE MARCHIONESS.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.
an organization of missionaries in a foreign land sent to carry on religious work
From this reading By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE.
the rays of the sun
From this reading SUNSHINE LIBRARY.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Story of a Child's Faith and Love .50 J. COLE.
United States clockmaker who introduced mass production (1785-1859)
From this reading By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.
a silvery metallic element that is common in rare-earth minerals; used in magnesium and aluminum alloys
From this reading By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.
the English royal house (a branch of the Plantagenet line) that reigned from 1461 to 1485; its emblem was a white rose
From this reading By the Author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" .50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND BOSTON.
Chapter 1 of Dick in the Desert by James Otis holds 141 sentences, grouped into 29 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 141 sentences of Dick in the Desert, unabridged, divided into 29 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Dick in the Desert by James Otis exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 141 sentences, grouped into 29 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 29 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 29 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 Dick in the Desert by James Otis on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 728 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31556 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31556, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 60 minutes of reading across 146 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Dick in the Desert section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Dick in the Desert 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 Dick in the Desert, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
