Chapter 5 of Fighting in France is here in full — 126 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Fighting in France is here in full — 126 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HAND TO HAND Instantly the three boys were all attention. They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited. Undoubtedly some one was approaching. There was more than one, for low-voiced words could be heard. Were they friends or foes?
Chapter 5 of Fighting in France is here in full — 126 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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 event of one object coming closer to another
From this reading “Undoubtedly some one was approaching.”
plural of “foe” — an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
From this reading “Were they friends or foes?”
plural of “gun” — a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading “They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.”
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
From this reading “HAND TO HAND Instantly the three boys were all attention.”
the act of passing from one state or place to the next
From this reading “They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.”
inflected form of “shrink” — wither, as with a loss of moisture
From this reading “They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.”
plural of “trigger” — lever that activates the firing mechanism of a gun
From this reading “They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.”
without doubt; certainly
From this reading “Undoubtedly some one was approaching.”
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.
(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 HAND TO HAND Instantly the three boys were all attention.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
the event of one object coming closer to another
From this reading Undoubtedly some one was approaching.
the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others
From this reading HAND TO HAND Instantly the three boys were all attention.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading There was more than one, for low-voiced words could be heard.
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading HAND TO HAND Instantly the three boys were all attention.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading There was more than one, for low-voiced words could be heard.
plural of “finger” — any of the terminal members of the hand (sometimes excepting the thumb)
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
plural of “foe” — an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
From this reading Were they friends or foes?
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading There was more than one, for low-voiced words could be heard.
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading Were they friends or foes?
plural of “gun” — a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading HAND TO HAND Instantly the three boys were all attention.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading There was more than one, for low-voiced words could be heard.
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
From this reading HAND TO HAND Instantly the three boys were all attention.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There was more than one, for low-voiced words could be heard.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading There was more than one, for low-voiced words could be heard.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Undoubtedly some one was approaching.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Were they friends or foes?
the act of passing from one state or place to the next
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
located or moved above the surround or above the normal position
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
A dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface.
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
plural of “shoulder” — the part of the body between the neck and the upper arm
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
inflected form of “shrink” — wither, as with a loss of moisture
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Undoubtedly some one was approaching.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading There was more than one, for low-voiced words could be heard.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading HAND TO HAND Instantly the three boys were all attention.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was more than one, for low-voiced words could be heard.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading HAND TO HAND Instantly the three boys were all attention.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading HAND TO HAND Instantly the three boys were all attention.
plural of “trigger” — lever that activates the firing mechanism of a gun
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
without doubt; certainly
From this reading Undoubtedly some one was approaching.
past form of “wait” — stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Undoubtedly some one was approaching.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading HAND TO HAND Instantly the three boys were all attention.
in the company of; together with
From this reading They shrank back into the shadow of the passage and with guns raised to their shoulders and their fingers on the triggers they waited.
the words that are spoken
From this reading There was more than one, for low-voiced words could be heard.
Chapter 5 of Fighting in France by Ross Kay holds 126 sentences, grouped into 26 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 5 holds 126 sentences of Fighting in France, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Fighting in France by Ross Kay exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 126 sentences, grouped into 26 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 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 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 5 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 Fighting in France by Ross Kay on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3321 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #20995 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #20995, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 276 minutes of reading across 665 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Fighting in France section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of Fighting in France 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 Fighting in France, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
