Chapter 17 of Looking Forward is here in full — 80 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of Looking Forward is here in full — 80 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Age of Electricity. Ærial navigation shunned by many people in 1999. The great Age of Electricity. The Passing of the Horse. The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.
Chapter 17 of Looking Forward is here in full — 80 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/16 · 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.
third-person singular of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading “The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.”
a physical phenomenon associated with stationary or moving electrons and protons
From this reading “The Age of Electricity.”
plural of “fetter” — a shackle for the ankles or feet
From this reading “The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.”
a social unit living together
From this reading “The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.”
third-person singular of “lose” — fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
From this reading “The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.”
the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place
From this reading “Ærial navigation shunned by many people in 1999.”
a domesticated animal kept for companionship or amusement
From this reading “The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.”
inflected form of “shun” — avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of
From this reading “Ærial navigation shunned by many people in 1999.”
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 “Ærial navigation shunned by many people in 1999.”
In this reading “The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ærial navigation shunned by many people in 1999.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.
how long something has existed
From this reading The Age of Electricity.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.
third-person singular of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Ærial navigation shunned by many people in 1999.
a physical phenomenon associated with stationary or moving electrons and protons
From this reading The Age of Electricity.
plural of “fetter” — a shackle for the ankles or feet
From this reading The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading The great Age of Electricity.
solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
From this reading The Passing of the Horse.
a social unit living together
From this reading The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Ærial navigation shunned by many people in 1999.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.
third-person singular of “lose” — fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
From this reading The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading Ærial navigation shunned by many people in 1999.
the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place
From this reading Ærial navigation shunned by many people in 1999.
impressive in appearance
From this reading The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The Age of Electricity.
(American football) a play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate
From this reading The Passing of the Horse.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading Ærial navigation shunned by many people in 1999.
a domesticated animal kept for companionship or amusement
From this reading The noble beast loses its fetters and becomes a Household Pet.
inflected form of “shun” — avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of
From this reading Ærial navigation shunned by many people in 1999.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Age of Electricity.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ærial navigation shunned by many people in 1999.
Chapter 17 of Looking Forward by Arthur Bird holds 80 sentences, grouped into 16 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 17 holds 80 sentences of Looking Forward, unabridged, divided into 16 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of Looking Forward by Arthur Bird exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 80 sentences, grouped into 16 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 16 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 16 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 17 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 Looking Forward by Arthur Bird on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2288 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50148 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50148, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 190 minutes of reading across 458 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Looking Forward section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of Looking Forward 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 Looking Forward, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
