Chapter 9 of Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker is here in full — 134 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker is here in full — 134 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SAVED. Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire. Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment. The darkness which followed seemed even more black than before. "A rocket!" shouted Frank.
Chapter 9 of Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker is here in full — 134 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/26 · 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.
very lively and profitable
From this reading “Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.”
having or marked by a curve or smoothly rounded bend
From this reading “Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.”
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading “Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.”
a violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction
From this reading “Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.”
provided with artificial light
From this reading “Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.”
any vehicle self-propelled by a rocket engine
From this reading “"A rocket!" shouted Frank.”
rescued; especially from the power and consequences of sin
From this reading “SAVED.”
an unbroken series of events
From this reading “Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.”
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.
temporarily
In this reading “Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.”
In this reading “Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.”
In this reading “Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.”
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 Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading The darkness which followed seemed even more black than before.
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 darkness which followed seemed even more black than before.
very lively and profitable
From this reading Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.
having or marked by a curve or smoothly rounded bend
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading The darkness which followed seemed even more black than before.
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.
divisible by two
From this reading The darkness which followed seemed even more black than before.
a violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction
From this reading Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.
start firing a weapon
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
past form of “follow” — to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading The darkness which followed seemed even more black than before.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.
characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion
From this reading "A rocket!" shouted Frank.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
provided with artificial light
From this reading Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
a particular point in time
From this reading Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading The darkness which followed seemed even more black than before.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
any vehicle self-propelled by a rocket engine
From this reading "A rocket!" shouted Frank.
rescued; especially from the power and consequences of sin
From this reading SAVED.
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading The darkness which followed seemed even more black than before.
the land along the edge of a body of water
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
the act of firing a projectile
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
in a vehement outcry
From this reading "A rocket!" shouted Frank.
an unbroken series of events
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading The darkness which followed seemed even more black than before.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Suddenly from the shore there shot up into the air a long, curving streak of fire.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Then came a dull, booming explosion, and the dark sea was lit up for a moment.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading The darkness which followed seemed even more black than before.
Chapter 9 of Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker by Matthew M. Colton holds 134 sentences, grouped into 27 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 134 sentences of Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker by Matthew M. Colton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 134 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 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 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.
