Chapter 2 of Opening the iron trail is here in full — 144 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Opening the iron trail is here in full — 144 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill! Drill, you tarriers, drill! O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay. Ra-a-ailway!” THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.
Chapter 2 of Opening the iron trail is here in full — 144 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 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.
recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm
From this reading “THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.”
make a hole, especially with a pointed power or hand tool
From this reading “TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill!”
in a gay manner
From this reading “THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.”
plural of “paddy” — (ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of Irish descent
From this reading “TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill!”
English literary critic who collaborated with C. K. Ogden and contributed to the development of Basic English (1893-1979)
From this reading “TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill!”
capable of arousing enthusiasm or excitement
From this reading “THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.”
a branch of the Tai languages
From this reading “O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.”
English actress (1847-1928)
From this reading “TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill!”
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.
nowhere to be found in a giant void
In this reading “THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.”
In this reading “O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.”
actively engaged in paid work
In this reading “TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill!”
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 mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.
(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 O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm
From this reading THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
make a hole, especially with a pointed power or hand tool
From this reading TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill!
in a gay manner
From this reading THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
From this reading TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill!
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill!
not any; not one
From this reading O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill!
plural of “paddy” — (ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of Irish descent
From this reading TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill!
give money, usually in exchange for goods or services
From this reading O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ra-a-ailway!”
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.
English literary critic who collaborated with C. K. Ogden and contributed to the development of Basic English (1893-1979)
From this reading TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill!
capable of arousing enthusiasm or excitement
From this reading THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.
the season of growth
From this reading THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.
a white crystalline carbohydrate used as a sweetener and preservative
From this reading O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Drill, you tarriers, drill!
a branch of the Tai languages
From this reading O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
English actress (1847-1928)
From this reading TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill!
the fifth day of the week; the fourth working day
From this reading O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading TERRY RICHARDS ON THE JOB “Drill, my paddies, drill!
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.
a base containing nitrogen that is found in RNA (but not in DNA) and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with adenine
From this reading O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.
relating to or characteristic of the western parts of the world or the West as opposed to the eastern or oriental parts
From this reading THE rousing chant rang gaily upon the thin air of Western spring.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Drill, you tarriers, drill!
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading O, it’s work all day, No sugar in your tay-- Wor-rkin’ on th’ U. Pay.
Chapter 2 of Opening the iron trail by Edwin L. (Edwin Legrand) Sabin holds 144 sentences, grouped into 29 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 2 holds 144 sentences of Opening the iron trail, unabridged, divided into 29 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Opening the iron trail by Edwin L. (Edwin Legrand) Sabin exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 144 sentences, grouped into 29 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 29 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 29 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 2 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 Opening the iron trail by Edwin L. (Edwin Legrand) Sabin 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 Opening the iron trail section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Opening the iron trail 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 Opening the iron trail, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
