Chapter 1 of Grifters' Asteroid is here in full — 537 sentences across 108 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Grifters' Asteroid is here in full — 537 sentences across 108 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker. Or so they thought! Angus Johnson knew differently. He charged them five buckos for a glass of water--and got it! Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
Chapter 1 of Grifters' Asteroid is here in full — 537 sentences across 108 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/107 · 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.
Celtic god of love and beauty; patron deity of young men and women
From this reading “Angus Johnson knew differently.”
in characteristic manner
From this reading “Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.”
United States jurist and the third chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1745-1807)
From this reading “Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.”
(sometimes offensive) an act of swindling or cheating
From this reading “Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.”
English physician and scientist who described the circulation of the blood; he later proposed that all animals originate from an ovum produced by the female of the species (1578-1657)
From this reading “Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.”
dried out by heat or excessive exposure to sunlight
From this reading “Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.”
superlative of “slick” — made slick by e.g. ice or grease
From this reading “Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.”
a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of
From this reading “Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.”
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.
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 Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.
Celtic god of love and beauty; patron deity of young men and women
From this reading Angus Johnson knew differently.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He charged them five buckos for a glass of water--and got it!
in characteristic manner
From this reading Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
of a particle or body or system; having a net amount of positive or negative electric charge
From this reading He charged them five buckos for a glass of water--and got it!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.
in another and different manner
From this reading Angus Johnson knew differently.
the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect
From this reading Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
United States jurist and the third chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1745-1807)
From this reading Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
at any time
From this reading Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading He charged them five buckos for a glass of water--and got it!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading He charged them five buckos for a glass of water--and got it!
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
From this reading He charged them five buckos for a glass of water--and got it!
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading He charged them five buckos for a glass of water--and got it!
(sometimes offensive) an act of swindling or cheating
From this reading Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.
decoration that is hung (as a tapestry) on a wall or over a window
From this reading Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
English physician and scientist who described the circulation of the blood; he later proposed that all animals originate from an ovum produced by the female of the species (1578-1657)
From this reading Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He charged them five buckos for a glass of water--and got it!
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading He charged them five buckos for a glass of water--and got it!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.
English writer and lexicographer (1709-1784)
From this reading Angus Johnson knew differently.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Angus Johnson knew differently.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He charged them five buckos for a glass of water--and got it!
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Or so they thought!
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
dried out by heat or excessive exposure to sunlight
From this reading Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
superlative of “slick” — made slick by e.g. ice or grease
From this reading Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Or so they thought!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.
a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of
From this reading Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading He charged them five buckos for a glass of water--and got it!
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Or so they thought!
in spite of the fact that
From this reading Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Or so they thought!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.
a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
From this reading Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
tested and proved useful or correct
From this reading Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Characteristically, Harvey Ellsworth tried to maintain his dignity, though his parched tongue was almost hanging out.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading He charged them five buckos for a glass of water--and got it!
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Harvey and Joe were the slickest con-men ever to gyp a space-lane sucker.
Chapter 1 of Grifters' Asteroid by H. L. (Horace Leonard) Gold holds 537 sentences, grouped into 108 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 537 sentences of Grifters' Asteroid, unabridged, divided into 108 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Grifters' Asteroid by H. L. (Horace Leonard) Gold exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 537 sentences, grouped into 108 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 108 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 108 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 Grifters' Asteroid by H. L. (Horace Leonard) Gold on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 537 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #62324 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #62324, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 44 minutes of reading across 108 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Grifters' Asteroid section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of Grifters' Asteroid 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 Grifters' Asteroid, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
