Chapter 1 of Distress Signal is here in full — 557 sentences across 112 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Distress Signal is here in full — 557 sentences across 112 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Marooned! On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home.... For Rex there was only one escape. But Carl called it murder! The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
Chapter 1 of Distress Signal is here in full — 557 sentences across 112 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/111 · 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.
plural of “light-year” — the distance that light travels in a vacuum in 1 year; 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers
From this reading “On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....”
lacking companions or companionship
From this reading “The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.”
cut off or left behind
From this reading “Marooned!”
slow and laborious because of weight
From this reading “The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.”
in a relentless manner
From this reading “The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.”
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading “For Rex there was only one escape.”
man-made equipment that orbits around the earth or the moon
From this reading “On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....”
past form of “tick” — make a clicking or ticking sound
From this reading “The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.”
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 “On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....”
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 On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But Carl called it murder!
showing who or what does the action
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading But Carl called it murder!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But Carl called it murder!
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....
in or associated with the process of passing from life or ceasing to be
From this reading On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....
the act of escaping physically
From this reading For Rex there was only one escape.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For Rex there was only one escape.
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....
where you live at a particular time
From this reading On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading But Carl called it murder!
plural of “light-year” — the distance that light travels in a vacuum in 1 year; 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers
From this reading On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....
lacking companions or companionship
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
cut off or left behind
From this reading Marooned!
being excited or provoked to the expression of an emotion
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
kill intentionally and with premeditation
From this reading But Carl called it murder!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading For Rex there was only one escape.
and nothing more
From this reading For Rex there was only one escape.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
(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 The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
slow and laborious because of weight
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
in a relentless manner
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading For Rex there was only one escape.
man-made equipment that orbits around the earth or the moon
From this reading On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....
(astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....
freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading On the cold satellite of a dying sun, light-years away from home....
in or at that place or location
From this reading For Rex there was only one escape.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
past form of “tick” — make a clicking or ticking sound
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading For Rex there was only one escape.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
a late time of life
From this reading The years passed relentlessly, ticked off--one, two three, four--by the big lone planet Worta as it moved with ponderous sureness around the dying red star.
Chapter 1 of Distress Signal by Ross Rocklynne holds 557 sentences, grouped into 112 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 557 sentences of Distress Signal, unabridged, divided into 112 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Distress Signal by Ross Rocklynne exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 557 sentences, grouped into 112 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 112 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 112 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 Distress Signal by Ross Rocklynne on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 557 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #64175 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #64175, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 46 minutes of reading across 112 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Distress Signal section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of Distress Signal 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 Distress Signal, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
