Chapter 1 of Peril Orbit is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Peril Orbit is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Caught in the sun! The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up. Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship. It was very small, very close, and utterly helpless. The side facing the sun glowed dull red.
Chapter 1 of Peril Orbit is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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.
shining intensely
From this reading “Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.”
a lining applied to the edge of a garment for ornamentation or strengthening
From this reading “The side facing the sun glowed dull red.”
past form of “glow” — emit a steady even light without flames
From this reading “The side facing the sun glowed dull red.”
lacking in or deprived of strength or power
From this reading “It was very small, very close, and utterly helpless.”
designed for or restricted to a single person
From this reading “Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.”
operate an airplane
From this reading “The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.”
a very small spot
From this reading “Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.”
activity leading to skilled behavior
From this reading “The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.”
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 “It was very small, very close, and utterly helpless.”
In this reading “The side facing the sun glowed dull red.”
In this reading “The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.”
lose (s.th.) or lose the right to (s.th.) by some error, offense, or crime
In this reading “The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.”
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 Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It was very small, very close, and utterly helpless.
feeling or showing anger
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
shining intensely
From this reading Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading Caught in the sun!
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading It was very small, very close, and utterly helpless.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading The side facing the sun glowed dull red.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.
a lining applied to the edge of a garment for ornamentation or strengthening
From this reading The side facing the sun glowed dull red.
A hot glowing body of ignited gas produced by fire.
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
past form of “glow” — emit a steady even light without flames
From this reading The side facing the sun glowed dull red.
lacking in or deprived of strength or power
From this reading It was very small, very close, and utterly helpless.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Caught in the sun!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was very small, very close, and utterly helpless.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
the property of a body that causes it to have weight in a gravitational field
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
being excited or provoked to the expression of an emotion
From this reading Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
designed for or restricted to a single person
From this reading Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.
operate an airplane
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading The side facing the sun glowed dull red.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.
transport commercially
From this reading Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading The side facing the sun glowed dull red.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading It was very small, very close, and utterly helpless.
the unlimited expanse in which everything is located
From this reading Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.
a very small spot
From this reading Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading Caught in the sun!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Caught in the sun!
very small
From this reading Across the blazing face of the sun moved a round dark speck, a tiny, one-man space ship.
activity leading to skilled behavior
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading It was very small, very close, and utterly helpless.
precisely as stated
From this reading It was very small, very close, and utterly helpless.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was very small, very close, and utterly helpless.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
showing curiosity
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading The young pilot stared at the mass of angry flame--wondering why his training wouldn't let him give up.
Chapter 1 of Peril Orbit by C. J. Wedlake holds 188 sentences, grouped into 38 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 188 sentences of Peril Orbit, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Peril Orbit by C. J. Wedlake exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 188 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 Peril Orbit by C. J. Wedlake on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 188 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #63837 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #63837, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 15 minutes of reading across 38 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Peril Orbit section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of Peril Orbit 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 Peril Orbit, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
