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Pine Needles
Pine Needles

Chapter III

Cover illustration for Pine Needles
Context Illustration Reading 1/56 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
A fire was the first thing.
Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.
Then they found they had no matches.
"We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.
"Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."
0:00 / 0:00
Speed 0.75x
AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

Pine Needles

Chapter III

Reading 1/56 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
A fire was the first thing.
Line 2
Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.
Line 3
Then they found they had no matches.
Line 4
"We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.
Line 5
"Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."

Learner Dictionary

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, audio, and collocations from this reading.

Cried noun US /cried/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “"We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.”

Dead noun US /dead/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.”

First noun US /first/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “A fire was the first thing.”

Found noun US /found/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “Then they found they had no matches.”

Something pronoun US /ˈsʌmθɪŋ/

a thing, without saying which

From this reading “"We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.”

Thing noun US /thing/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “A fire was the first thing.”

All words in this reading · 40

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

AdeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading A fire was the first thing.

always

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

box

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."

branches

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

built

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

criednounUS /cried/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading "We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.

deadnounUS /dead/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

dry

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

fetch

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."

fire

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading A fire was the first thing.

firstnounUS /first/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading A fire was the first thing.

forprepositionUS /fɔːr/

intended to be given to, or used by, somebody

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

forget

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.

foundnounUS /found/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading Then they found they had no matches.

gathered

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/

the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect

From this reading Then they found they had no matches.

home

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."

I'll

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."

kettle

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

leaves

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

Maggie

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

matches

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Then they found they had no matches.

Meredith

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

nice

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

nodeterminerUS /noʊ/

not any; not one

From this reading Then they found they had no matches.

Now

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."

pine

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

place

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

run

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."

some

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

somethingpronounUS /ˈsʌmθɪŋ/

a thing, without saying which

From this reading "We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.

stones

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading A fire was the first thing.

Then

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Then they found they had no matches.

theypronounUS /ðeɪ/

the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading Then they found they had no matches.

thingnounUS /thing/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading A fire was the first thing.

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading A fire was the first thing.

WepronounUS /wiː/

the speaker together with one or more other people

From this reading "We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.

withprepositionUS /wɪð/

in the company of; together with

From this reading Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.