Chapter 1 of Great Inventions and Discoveries is here in full — 93 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Great Inventions and Discoveries is here in full — 93 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
See http://www. The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves. For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived. If they had clothing, it was the skins of wild beasts. Life was simple, slow, and crude.
Chapter 1 of Great Inventions and Discoveries is here in full — 93 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/18 · 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.
plural of “cave” — a geological formation consisting of an underground enclosure with access from the surface of the ground or from the sea
From this reading “The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.”
a person who is being chased
From this reading “For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.”
not carefully or expertly made
From this reading “Life was simple, slow, and crude.”
a protocol (utilizing TCP) to transfer hypertext requests and information between servers and browsers
From this reading “See http://www.”
plural of “shore” — the land along the edge of a body of water
From this reading “For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.”
plural of “skin” — a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch
From this reading “If they had clothing, it was the skins of wild beasts.”
plural of “stream” — a natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth
From this reading “For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.”
(used in the plural) trousers that end at or above the knee
From this reading “The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.”
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 “If they had clothing, it was the skins of wild beasts.”
In this reading “For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.”
live in the house where one works
In this reading “The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.”
In this reading “For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.”
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.
following the length of something from one end toward the other
From this reading For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
plural of “beast” — a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading If they had clothing, it was the skins of wild beasts.
plural of “branch” — a division of some larger or more complex organization
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.
plural of “cave” — a geological formation consisting of an underground enclosure with access from the surface of the ground or from the sea
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
a person who is being chased
From this reading For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.
a covering designed to be worn on a person's body
From this reading If they had clothing, it was the skins of wild beasts.
not carefully or expertly made
From this reading Life was simple, slow, and crude.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
any of various mostly cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates usually having scales and breathing through gills
From this reading For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.
any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissue
From this reading For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading If they had clothing, it was the skins of wild beasts.
not solid; having a space or gap or cavity
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
plural of “horse” — solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
From this reading For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.
a protocol (utilizing TCP) to transfer hypertext requests and information between servers and browsers
From this reading See http://www.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If they had clothing, it was the skins of wild beasts.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading If they had clothing, it was the skins of wild beasts.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Life was simple, slow, and crude.
past form of “live” — be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
the force of workers available
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading See http://www.
plural of “shore” — the land along the edge of a body of water
From this reading For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.
having few parts; not complex or complicated or involved
From this reading Life was simple, slow, and crude.
plural of “skin” — a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch
From this reading If they had clothing, it was the skins of wild beasts.
not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time
From this reading Life was simple, slow, and crude.
on certain occasions or in certain cases but not always
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
plural of “stream” — a natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth
From this reading For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.
plural of “tree” — a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
(used in the plural) trousers that end at or above the knee
From this reading The first men lived in the branches of trees or in their hollow trunks, and sometimes in caves.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading If they had clothing, it was the skins of wild beasts.
belonging to which person
From this reading For food they chased horses or caught fish from the streams along whose shores they lived.
marked by extreme lack of restraint or control
From this reading If they had clothing, it was the skins of wild beasts.
computer network consisting of a collection of internet sites that offer text and graphics and sound and animation resources through the hypertext transfer protocol
From this reading See http://www.
Chapter 1 of Great Inventions and Discoveries by Willis Duff Piercy holds 93 sentences, grouped into 19 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 93 sentences of Great Inventions and Discoveries, unabridged, divided into 19 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Great Inventions and Discoveries by Willis Duff Piercy exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 93 sentences, grouped into 19 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 19 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 19 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 Great Inventions and Discoveries by Willis Duff Piercy on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2167 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #37574 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #37574, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 180 minutes of reading across 434 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Great Inventions and Discoveries section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of Great Inventions and Discoveries 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 Great Inventions and Discoveries, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
