Chapter 9 of Forward, Children! is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of Forward, Children! is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
What good was it, sending kids to school? They have been attending school since the Romans, or was it before the Romans? Have schools stopped war? Nobody through all those centuries has had a peace class. He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.
Chapter 9 of Forward, Children! is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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 process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others
From this reading “They have been attending school since the Romans, or was it before the Romans?”
damaged by blows or hard usage
From this reading “He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.”
plural of “century” — a period of 100 years
From this reading “Nobody through all those centuries has had a peace class.”
inflected form of “grin” — to draw back the lips and reveal the teeth, in a smile, grimace, or snarl
From this reading “He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.”
plural of “kid” — a young person of either sex
From this reading “What good was it, sending kids to school?”
a New Testament book containing an exposition of the doctrines of Saint Paul; written in AD 58
From this reading “They have been attending school since the Romans, or was it before the Romans?”
plural of “school” — an educational institution
From this reading “Have schools stopped war?”
the act of causing something to go (especially messages)
From this reading “What good was it, sending kids to school?”
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.
rest on for support
In this reading “He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.”
In this reading “He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.”
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 Nobody through all those centuries has had a peace class.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.
(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 Nobody through all those centuries has had a peace class.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.
the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others
From this reading They have been attending school since the Romans, or was it before the Romans?
damaged by blows or hard usage
From this reading He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading They have been attending school since the Romans, or was it before the Romans?
earlier than; in front of
From this reading They have been attending school since the Romans, or was it before the Romans?
plural of “century” — a period of 100 years
From this reading Nobody through all those centuries has had a peace class.
a collection of things sharing a common attribute
From this reading Nobody through all those centuries has had a peace class.
a small house with a single story
From this reading He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.
the frame that supports a door
From this reading He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading What good was it, sending kids to school?
inflected form of “grin” — to draw back the lips and reveal the teeth, in a smile, grimace, or snarl
From this reading He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Nobody through all those centuries has had a peace class.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Nobody through all those centuries has had a peace class.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading They have been attending school since the Romans, or was it before the Romans?
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading What good was it, sending kids to school?
plural of “kid” — a young person of either sex
From this reading What good was it, sending kids to school?
past form of “lean” — to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.
no person; not anyone
From this reading Nobody through all those centuries has had a peace class.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He grinned, as he leaned against the battered doorframe of the little cottage.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading They have been attending school since the Romans, or was it before the Romans?
the state prevailing during the absence of war
From this reading Nobody through all those centuries has had a peace class.
a New Testament book containing an exposition of the doctrines of Saint Paul; written in AD 58
From this reading They have been attending school since the Romans, or was it before the Romans?
an educational institution
From this reading What good was it, sending kids to school?
plural of “school” — an educational institution
From this reading Have schools stopped war?
the act of causing something to go (especially messages)
From this reading What good was it, sending kids to school?
from a time in the past until now
From this reading They have been attending school since the Romans, or was it before the Romans?
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading Have schools stopped war?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading They have been attending school since the Romans, or was it before the Romans?
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They have been attending school since the Romans, or was it before the Romans?
the plural of “that”: the people or things further away, or already known
From this reading Nobody through all those centuries has had a peace class.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Nobody through all those centuries has had a peace class.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading What good was it, sending kids to school?
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading Have schools stopped war?
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading What good was it, sending kids to school?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What good was it, sending kids to school?
Chapter 9 of Forward, Children! by Paul Alexander Bartlett holds 413 sentences, grouped into 83 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 9 holds 413 sentences of Forward, Children!, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of Forward, Children! by Paul Alexander Bartlett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 413 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 9 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 Forward, Children! by Paul Alexander Bartlett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4960 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #44717 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #44717, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 413 minutes of reading across 992 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Forward, Children! section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of Forward, Children! 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 Forward, Children!, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
