Chapter 1 of Hold Back Tomorrow is here in full — 371 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Hold Back Tomorrow is here in full — 371 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It was so good to be young, Margy knew. She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries. That must not happen.... "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond. "Hello, Clyde."
Chapter 1 of Hold Back Tomorrow is here in full — 371 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/74 · 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.
a fully developed person from maturity onward
From this reading “She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.”
plural of “century” — a period of 100 years
From this reading “She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.”
a river in western Scotland that flows from the southern uplands into the Firth of Clyde; navigable by oceangoing vessels as far as Glasgow
From this reading “"Hello, Clyde."”
an expression of greeting
From this reading “"Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.”
relating to or being a language in which each word typically expresses a distinct idea and part of speech and syntactical relations are determined almost exclusively by word order and particles
From this reading “"Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.”
plural of “lake” — a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading “"Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.”
(of land) improved by gardening or landscape architecture
From this reading “"Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.”
the yard associated with a school
From this reading “"Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.”
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.
a fence built of rough stones; used to separate fields
In this reading “"Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.”
In this reading “She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.”
In this reading “"Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.”
find unexpectedly
In this reading “"Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.”
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.
a fully developed person from maturity onward
From this reading She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.
in a shy or timid or bashful manner
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It was so good to be young, Margy knew.
next to; at the side of
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
on the far side of; further than
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
taking care or paying attention
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
plural of “century” — a period of 100 years
From this reading She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.
a river in western Scotland that flows from the southern uplands into the Firth of Clyde; navigable by oceangoing vessels as far as Glasgow
From this reading "Hello, Clyde."
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading It was so good to be young, Margy knew.
pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.
come to pass
From this reading That must not happen....
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
an expression of greeting
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.
relating to or being a language in which each word typically expresses a distinct idea and part of speech and syntactical relations are determined almost exclusively by word order and particles
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was so good to be young, Margy knew.
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 It was so good to be young, Margy knew.
plural of “lake” — a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
(of land) improved by gardening or landscape architecture
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
less than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was so good to be young, Margy knew.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading That must not happen....
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading That must not happen....
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
the yard associated with a school
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading It was so good to be young, Margy knew.
having a supporting base
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
confined on all sides
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That must not happen....
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It was so good to be young, Margy knew.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was so good to be young, Margy knew.
at the time that
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
a Caucasian
From this reading "Hello, Margy," he said bashfully when he came upon her standing beside the low, white stone wall which surrounded the schoolyard, isolating it from the carefully landscaped forest and lakes beyond.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading It was so good to be young, Margy knew.
Chapter 1 of Hold Back Tomorrow by Kris Neville holds 371 sentences, grouped into 75 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 371 sentences of Hold Back Tomorrow, unabridged, divided into 75 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Hold Back Tomorrow by Kris Neville exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 371 sentences, grouped into 75 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 75 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 75 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 Hold Back Tomorrow by Kris Neville on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Hold Back Tomorrow section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Hold Back Tomorrow 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 Hold Back Tomorrow, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
