Chapter 1 of John Holder's Weapon is here in full — 500 sentences across 100 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of John Holder's Weapon is here in full — 500 sentences across 100 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence. Impossible, of course--and yet they vanished before his eyes.... "Get the hell out of my sight, Nocher!" Holder shouted. The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive.
Chapter 1 of John Holder's Weapon is here in full — 500 sentences across 100 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/100 · 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 person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading “The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive.”
plural of “captor” — a person who captures and holds people or animals
From this reading “Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.”
a member of the communist party
From this reading “Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.”
treated with dislike or contempt
From this reading “Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.”
any place of pain and turmoil
From this reading “"Get the hell out of my sight, Nocher!"”
a holding device
From this reading “Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.”
a person with advanced knowledge of one or more sciences
From this reading “The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive.”
having passed out of existence
From this reading “Impossible, of course--and yet they vanished before his eyes....”
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 “The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Impossible, of course--and yet they vanished before his eyes....
the past participle of “be”
From this reading The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Impossible, of course--and yet they vanished before his eyes....
a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive.
plural of “captor” — a person who captures and holds people or animals
From this reading Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.
a member of the communist party
From this reading Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.
education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings
From this reading Impossible, of course--and yet they vanished before his eyes....
at any time
From this reading The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive.
the state or fact of existing
From this reading Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Impossible, of course--and yet they vanished before his eyes....
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "Get the hell out of my sight, Nocher!"
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive.
treated with dislike or contempt
From this reading Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive.
any place of pain and turmoil
From this reading "Get the hell out of my sight, Nocher!"
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.
a holding device
From this reading Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.
not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with
From this reading Impossible, of course--and yet they vanished before his eyes....
to a great degree or extent
From this reading Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "Get the hell out of my sight, Nocher!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Get the hell out of my sight, Nocher!"
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.
a person with advanced knowledge of one or more sciences
From this reading The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive.
in a vehement outcry
From this reading Holder shouted.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading "Get the hell out of my sight, Nocher!"
from a time in the past until now
From this reading The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive.
a sudden outburst of anger
From this reading The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Get the hell out of my sight, Nocher!"
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Impossible, of course--and yet they vanished before his eyes....
having passed out of existence
From this reading Impossible, of course--and yet they vanished before his eyes....
past form of “wish” — hope for; have a wish
From this reading Holder hated his Communist captors so much he wished them out of existence.
but in spite of that
From this reading Impossible, of course--and yet they vanished before his eyes....
Chapter 1 of John Holder's Weapon by Robert Moore Williams holds 500 sentences, grouped into 100 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 500 sentences of John Holder's Weapon, unabridged, divided into 100 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of John Holder's Weapon by Robert Moore Williams exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 500 sentences, grouped into 100 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 100 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 100 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 John Holder's Weapon by Robert Moore Williams 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.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in John Holder's Weapon, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
