Chapter 1 of Fresh Air Fiend is here in full — 393 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Fresh Air Fiend is here in full — 393 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him. Or was he? He rolled over to look at the plants. They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut. He tried to draw his arm under his body to force himself erect.
Chapter 1 of Fresh Air Fiend is here in full — 393 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/78 · 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.
construct, build, or erect
From this reading “He tried to draw his arm under his body to force himself erect.”
steadfast in affection or allegiance
From this reading “Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.”
a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading “They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.”
lacking in or deprived of strength or power
From this reading “Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.”
temporary military shelter
From this reading “They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.”
occurring by chance
From this reading “Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.”
plural of “plant” — buildings for carrying on industrial labor
From this reading “He rolled over to look at the plants.”
having no beneficial use or incapable of functioning usefully
From this reading “They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.”
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.
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “He rolled over to look at the plants.”
In this reading “Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.”
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 Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading He tried to draw his arm under his body to force himself erect.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He rolled over to look at the plants.
the entire physical structure of an organism (an animal, plant, or human being)
From this reading He tried to draw his arm under his body to force himself erect.
a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid
From this reading They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.
uneven by virtue of having wrinkles or waves
From this reading They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.
cause to move by pulling
From this reading He tried to draw his arm under his body to force himself erect.
construct, build, or erect
From this reading He tried to draw his arm under his body to force himself erect.
steadfast in affection or allegiance
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.
a powerful effect or influence
From this reading He tried to draw his arm under his body to force himself erect.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
lacking in or deprived of strength or power
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading He tried to draw his arm under his body to force himself erect.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He tried to draw his arm under his body to force himself erect.
temporary military shelter
From this reading They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He rolled over to look at the plants.
occurring by chance
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
make or become more narrow or restricted
From this reading They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.
characteristic of or existing by virtue of geographic origin
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
try to cure by special care of treatment, of an illness or injury
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Or was he?
above and across; more than
From this reading He rolled over to look at the plants.
plural of “plant” — buildings for carrying on industrial labor
From this reading He rolled over to look at the plants.
especially of petals or leaves in bud; having margins rolled inward
From this reading He rolled over to look at the plants.
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He rolled over to look at the plants.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
tested and proved useful or correct
From this reading He tried to draw his arm under his body to force himself erect.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading He tried to draw his arm under his body to force himself erect.
having no beneficial use or incapable of functioning usefully
From this reading They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.
precisely as stated
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading They were crinkled and dead and useless in the narrow flower box across the hut.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Sick and helpless, he was very lucky to have a faithful native woman to nurse him.
Chapter 1 of Fresh Air Fiend by Kris Neville holds 393 sentences, grouped into 79 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 1 holds 393 sentences of Fresh Air Fiend, unabridged, divided into 79 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Fresh Air Fiend by Kris Neville exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 393 sentences, grouped into 79 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 79 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 79 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 1 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 Fresh Air Fiend by Kris Neville on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 393 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #51335 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #51335, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 32 minutes of reading across 79 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Fresh Air Fiend section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of Fresh Air Fiend 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 Fresh Air Fiend, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
