Chapter 1 of On the Trail of the Space Pirates is here in full — 289 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of On the Trail of the Space Pirates is here in full — 289 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"ALL ABOARD!" A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal. "Atom City express on Track Seven! Space Academy first stop! Passengers for Space Academy will please take seats in the first six cars!"
Chapter 1 of On the Trail of the Space Pirates is here in full — 289 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/57 · 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 place of study or training in a special field of knowledge and arts.
From this reading “Space Academy first stop!”
a silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite
From this reading “A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.”
(physics and chemistry) the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element
From this reading “"Atom City express on Track Seven!”
a large gathering of people
From this reading “A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.”
containing or made of or resembling or characteristic of a metal
From this reading “A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.”
a railway having a single track
From this reading “A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.”
past form of “rasp” — scrape with a rasp
From this reading “A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.”
station where transport vehicles load or unload passengers or goods
From this reading “A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.”
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 A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
on a ship, train, plane or other vehicle
From this reading "ALL ABOARD!"
A place of study or training in a special field of knowledge and arts.
From this reading Space Academy first stop!
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading "ALL ABOARD!"
a silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
(physics and chemistry) the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element
From this reading "Atom City express on Track Seven!
plural of “car” — a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading Passengers for Space Academy will please take seats in the first six cars!"
largest city in Illinois; a bustling Great Lakes port that extends 26 miles along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading "Atom City express on Track Seven!
a large gathering of people
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
past form of “echo” — to say again or imitate
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
give expression to
From this reading "Atom City express on Track Seven!
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Space Academy first stop!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Passengers for Space Academy will please take seats in the first six cars!"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Passengers for Space Academy will please take seats in the first six cars!"
of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
a hard crystalline metamorphic rock that takes a high polish; used for sculpture and as building material
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
containing or made of or resembling or characteristic of a metal
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
a railway having a single track
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "Atom City express on Track Seven!
above and across; more than
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
plural of “passenger” — a traveler riding in a vehicle (a boat or bus or car or plane or train etc) who is not operating it
From this reading Passengers for Space Academy will please take seats in the first six cars!"
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading Passengers for Space Academy will please take seats in the first six cars!"
past form of “rasp” — scrape with a rasp
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
an area that includes places where several people can sit
From this reading Passengers for Space Academy will please take seats in the first six cars!"
the cardinal number that is the sum of six and one
From this reading "Atom City express on Track Seven!
the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one
From this reading Passengers for Space Academy will please take seats in the first six cars!"
the unlimited expanse in which everything is located
From this reading Space Academy first stop!
come to a halt, stop moving
From this reading Space Academy first stop!
carry out
From this reading Passengers for Space Academy will please take seats in the first six cars!"
station where transport vehicles load or unload passengers or goods
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
a line or route along which something travels or moves
From this reading "Atom City express on Track Seven!
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading A metallic voice rasped over the loud-speakers and echoed through the lofty marble and aluminum concourse of the New Chicago Monorail Terminal.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading Passengers for Space Academy will please take seats in the first six cars!"
Chapter 1 of On the Trail of the Space Pirates by Carey Rockwell holds 289 sentences, grouped into 58 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 289 sentences of On the Trail of the Space Pirates, unabridged, divided into 58 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of On the Trail of the Space Pirates by Carey Rockwell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 289 sentences, grouped into 58 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 58 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 58 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 On the Trail of the Space Pirates by Carey Rockwell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4414 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #21092 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #21092, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 367 minutes of reading across 883 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through On the Trail of the Space Pirates section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of On the Trail of the Space Pirates 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 On the Trail of the Space Pirates, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
