Chapter 12 of Facing the World is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of Facing the World is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“WHO WILL STAY?” The decision was a momentous one. It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat. The passengers looked at each other in doubt and perplexity. They had but fifteen minutes in which to make up their minds.
Chapter 12 of Facing the World is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
the act of making up your mind about something
From this reading “The decision was a momentous one.”
go on board
From this reading “It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.”
physically weak
From this reading “It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.”
a person who lives and works on land
From this reading “It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.”
of very great significance
From this reading “The decision was a momentous one.”
plural of “passenger” — a traveler riding in a vehicle (a boat or bus or car or plane or train etc) who is not operating it
From this reading “The passengers looked at each other in doubt and perplexity.”
fraught with danger
From this reading “It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.”
trouble or confusion resulting from complexity
From this reading “The passengers looked at each other in doubt and perplexity.”
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 The decision was a momentous one.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The passengers looked at each other in doubt and perplexity.
feeling or showing anger
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The passengers looked at each other in doubt and perplexity.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
the act of making up your mind about something
From this reading The decision was a momentous one.
the state of being unsure of something
From this reading The passengers looked at each other in doubt and perplexity.
every one of two or more people or things, taken separately
From this reading The passengers looked at each other in doubt and perplexity.
go on board
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
the cardinal number that is the sum of fourteen and one
From this reading They had but fifteen minutes in which to make up their minds.
physically weak
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading They had but fifteen minutes in which to make up their minds.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
a person who lives and works on land
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The passengers looked at each other in doubt and perplexity.
engage in
From this reading They had but fifteen minutes in which to make up their minds.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
plural of “mind” — that which is responsible for one's thoughts, feelings, and conscious brain functions; the seat of the faculty of reason
From this reading They had but fifteen minutes in which to make up their minds.
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading They had but fifteen minutes in which to make up their minds.
of very great significance
From this reading The decision was a momentous one.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The decision was a momentous one.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading The passengers looked at each other in doubt and perplexity.
plural of “passenger” — a traveler riding in a vehicle (a boat or bus or car or plane or train etc) who is not operating it
From this reading The passengers looked at each other in doubt and perplexity.
fraught with danger
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
trouble or confusion resulting from complexity
From this reading The passengers looked at each other in doubt and perplexity.
stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
transport commercially
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading “WHO WILL STAY?”
not in physical motion
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The decision was a momentous one.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading They had but fifteen minutes in which to make up their minds.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They had but fifteen minutes in which to make up their minds.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading They had but fifteen minutes in which to make up their minds.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The decision was a momentous one.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading They had but fifteen minutes in which to make up their minds.
which person or people
From this reading “WHO WILL STAY?”
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading “WHO WILL STAY?”
Chapter 12 of Facing the World by Horatio, Jr. Alger holds 135 sentences, grouped into 27 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 12 holds 135 sentences of Facing the World, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Facing the World by Horatio, Jr. Alger exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 135 sentences, grouped into 27 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 27 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 27 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 12 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 Facing the World by Horatio, Jr. Alger on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2097 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #6461 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #6461, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 174 minutes of reading across 420 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Facing the World section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of Facing the World 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 Facing the World, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
