Chapter 1 of My country's part is here in full — 523 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of My country's part is here in full — 523 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
What can an American boy or an American girl do for our country? The ways are many. Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation. In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier. A soldier’s part is to guard his nation.
Chapter 1 of My country's part is here in full — 523 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/104 · 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.
presently existing in fact and not merely potential or possible
From this reading “In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier.”
attempting to or designed to prevent an opponent from winning or scoring
From this reading “Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.”
a person who keeps watch over something or someone
From this reading “A soldier’s part is to guard his nation.”
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading “Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.”
an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading “In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier.”
possessive form of “soldier” — an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
plural of “state” — the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation
From this reading “Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.”
characterized by unity; being or joined into a single entity
From this reading “Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.”
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 In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier.
presently existing in fact and not merely potential or possible
From this reading In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier.
a native or inhabitant of the United States
From this reading What can an American boy or an American girl do for our country?
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading What can an American boy or an American girl do for our country?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The ways are many.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier.
a youthful male person
From this reading What can an American boy or an American girl do for our country?
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading What can an American boy or an American girl do for our country?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier.
a young person of either sex
From this reading Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading What can an American boy or an American girl do for our country?
attempting to or designed to prevent an opponent from winning or scoring
From this reading Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading What can an American boy or an American girl do for our country?
the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
From this reading Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading What can an American boy or an American girl do for our country?
a young female
From this reading What can an American boy or an American girl do for our country?
a person who keeps watch over something or someone
From this reading A soldier’s part is to guard his nation.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading A soldier’s part is to guard his nation.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A soldier’s part is to guard his nation.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.
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 The ways are many.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading What can an American boy or an American girl do for our country?
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading What can an American boy or an American girl do for our country?
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading A soldier’s part is to guard his nation.
an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier.
possessive form of “soldier” — an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading A soldier’s part is to guard his nation.
the vital principle or animating force within living things
From this reading In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier.
plural of “state” — the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation
From this reading Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The ways are many.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A soldier’s part is to guard his nation.
characterized by unity; being or joined into a single entity
From this reading Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading In time of war every American must be in spirit, if he cannot be in actual duty, a soldier.
structure consisting of a sloping way down to the water from the place where ships are built or repaired
From this reading The ways are many.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What can an American boy or an American girl do for our country?
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Every man, woman, and child in the United States has the duty of defending the nation.
Chapter 1 of My country's part by Mary Synon holds 523 sentences, grouped into 105 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 523 sentences of My country's part, unabridged, divided into 105 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of My country's part by Mary Synon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 523 sentences, grouped into 105 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 105 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 105 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 My country's part by Mary Synon on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1256 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #76636 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #76636, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 104 minutes of reading across 252 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through My country's part section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of My country's part 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 My country's part, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
