Chapter 2 of Down to the Worlds of Men is here in full — 474 sentences across 95 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Down to the Worlds of Men is here in full — 474 sentences across 95 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade. He said, "All right. You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied. You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by." Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.
Chapter 2 of Down to the Worlds of Men is here in full — 474 sentences across 95 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/94 · 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.
only a very short time before
From this reading “It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.”
-ing form of “correct” — make right or correct
From this reading “You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.”
a body of students who are taught together
From this reading “It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.”
of great significance or value
From this reading “Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.”
the act of hearing attentively
From this reading “You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.”
a small piece of cloth or paper
From this reading “You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by."”
filled with satisfaction
From this reading “You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.”
disposed or inclined toward
From this reading “It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.”
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.
a prolonged period of time
In this reading “It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.”
In this reading “Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.”
move out of or depart from
In this reading “Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.”
In this reading “Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.”
In this reading “Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.”
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 It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading He said, "All right.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by."
only a very short time before
From this reading It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by."
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by."
-ing form of “correct” — make right or correct
From this reading You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.
set up or found
From this reading Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by."
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
a body of students who are taught together
From this reading It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by."
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.
of great significance or value
From this reading Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by."
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.
the act of hearing attentively
From this reading You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.
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 It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.
the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by."
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.
(American football) a play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate
From this reading It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.
a small piece of cloth or paper
From this reading You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by."
precisely, exactly
From this reading He said, "All right.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading He said, "All right.
filled with satisfaction
From this reading You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.
exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by."
a special situation
From this reading Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by."
in spite of the fact that
From this reading You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by."
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Before I went out into town, I found out one more important thing.
disposed or inclined toward
From this reading It was a long time before he was willing to give me a barely passing grade.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You talk as though you have a rag in your mouth, but I think you can get by."
used when the person spoken to is also the object of the action
From this reading You should keep listening to people and correcting yourself, but I be satisfied.
Chapter 2 of Down to the Worlds of Men by Alexei Panshin holds 474 sentences, grouped into 95 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 2 holds 474 sentences of Down to the Worlds of Men, unabridged, divided into 95 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Down to the Worlds of Men by Alexei Panshin exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 474 sentences, grouped into 95 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 95 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 95 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 2 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 Down to the Worlds of Men by Alexei Panshin on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 963 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #61405 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #61405, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 80 minutes of reading across 193 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Down to the Worlds of Men section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of Down to the Worlds of Men 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 Down to the Worlds of Men, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
