Chapter 1 of Earthmen Die Hard! is here in full — 176 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Earthmen Die Hard! is here in full — 176 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol. It was obvious the world had to be decontaminated. But the aliens found-- Earthmen Die Hard! They climbed the hill together, arm in arm. At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
Chapter 1 of Earthmen Die Hard! is here in full — 176 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/35 · 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 “alien” — a person who comes from a foreign country; someone who does not owe allegiance to your country
From this reading “But the aliens found-- Earthmen Die Hard!”
the top line of a hill, mountain, or wave
From this reading “At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.”
past form of “decontaminate” — rid of contamination
From this reading “It was obvious the world had to be decontaminated.”
past form of “infest” — invade in great numbers
From this reading “A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol.”
the leaf of a conifer
From this reading “At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.”
directed toward heaven or the sky
From this reading “At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.”
a colloid that has a continuous liquid phase in which a solid is suspended in a liquid
From this reading “A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol.”
extremely poisonous or injurious; producing venom
From this reading “A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol.”
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 “They climbed the hill together, arm in arm.”
look towards one's back
In this reading “At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.”
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 A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol.
plural of “alien” — a person who comes from a foreign country; someone who does not owe allegiance to your country
From this reading But the aliens found-- Earthmen Die Hard!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading They climbed the hill together, arm in arm.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It was obvious the world had to be decontaminated.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But the aliens found-- Earthmen Die Hard!
past form of “climb” — go upward with gradual or continuous progress
From this reading They climbed the hill together, arm in arm.
the top line of a hill, mountain, or wave
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
past form of “decontaminate” — rid of contamination
From this reading It was obvious the world had to be decontaminated.
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading But the aliens found-- Earthmen Die Hard!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But the aliens found-- Earthmen Die Hard!
set up or found
From this reading But the aliens found-- Earthmen Die Hard!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It was obvious the world had to be decontaminated.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading But the aliens found-- Earthmen Die Hard!
a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading They climbed the hill together, arm in arm.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading They climbed the hill together, arm in arm.
past form of “infest” — invade in great numbers
From this reading A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was obvious the world had to be decontaminated.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc.
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
the leaf of a conifer
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind
From this reading It was obvious the world had to be decontaminated.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol.
to a distinctly greater extent or degree than is common
From this reading A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol.
(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 A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol.
having a point
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
directed toward heaven or the sky
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
a colloid that has a continuous liquid phase in which a solid is suspended in a liquid
From this reading A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They climbed the hill together, arm in arm.
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
one of three equal parts of a divisible whole
From this reading A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It was obvious the world had to be decontaminated.
in contact with each other or in proximity
From this reading They climbed the hill together, arm in arm.
a long depression in the surface of the land that usually contains a river
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
extremely poisonous or injurious; producing venom
From this reading A particularly virulent germ-life infested the third planet of Sol.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was obvious the world had to be decontaminated.
in or at the place that
From this reading At the crest, they stopped and looked back into the moon-brightened valley where the thin needle of metal pointed skyward.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading It was obvious the world had to be decontaminated.
Chapter 1 of Earthmen Die Hard! by Richard O. Lewis holds 176 sentences, grouped into 36 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 176 sentences of Earthmen Die Hard!, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Earthmen Die Hard! by Richard O. Lewis exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 176 sentences, grouped into 36 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 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 36 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 Earthmen Die Hard! by Richard O. Lewis 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 Earthmen Die Hard! section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Earthmen Die Hard! 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 Earthmen Die Hard!, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
