Chapter 7 of Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker is here in full — 183 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker is here in full — 183 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
COALS OF FIRE. The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters. "There it is again," whispered Frank. "It seems to be dead ahead." Again they held their breaths and listened.
Chapter 7 of Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker is here in full — 183 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/36 · 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.
at or in the front
From this reading “"It seems to be dead ahead."”
plural of “breath” — the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
From this reading “Again they held their breaths and listened.”
plural of “coal” — fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period
From this reading “COALS OF FIRE.”
past form of “float” — be in motion due to some air or water current
From this reading “The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.”
an event that repeats
From this reading “The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.”
an intense or violent exertion
From this reading “The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.”
the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips
From this reading “The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.”
United States actress and singer (1896-1977)
From this reading “The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.”
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 “The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.”
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 four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
anew
From this reading "There it is again," whispered Frank.
at or in the front
From this reading "It seems to be dead ahead."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Again they held their breaths and listened.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "It seems to be dead ahead."
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
plural of “breath” — the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
From this reading Again they held their breaths and listened.
plural of “coal” — fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period
From this reading COALS OF FIRE.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading "It seems to be dead ahead."
plural of “ear” — the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
start firing a weapon
From this reading COALS OF FIRE.
past form of “float” — be in motion due to some air or water current
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion
From this reading "There it is again," whispered Frank.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading Again they held their breaths and listened.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "There it is again," whispered Frank.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "There it is again," whispered Frank.
past form of “listen” — hear with intention
From this reading Again they held their breaths and listened.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading COALS OF FIRE.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
above and across; more than
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
an event that repeats
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
third-person singular of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading "It seems to be dead ahead."
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
an intense or violent exertion
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
in or at that place or location
From this reading "There it is again," whispered Frank.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Again they held their breaths and listened.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "It seems to be dead ahead."
the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
United States actress and singer (1896-1977)
From this reading The four boys stood in the waist of the boat straining their ears for a repetition of the sound that had floated out over the black waters.
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading "There it is again," whispered Frank.
Chapter 7 of Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker by Matthew M. Colton holds 183 sentences, grouped into 37 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 7 holds 183 sentences of Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker by Matthew M. Colton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 183 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 7 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 Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker by Matthew M. Colton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3812 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #48849 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #48849, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 317 minutes of reading across 763 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker 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 Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
