Chapter 3 of Pine Needles is here in full — 276 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Pine Needles is here in full — 276 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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."
Chapter 3 of Pine Needles is here in full — 276 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/55 · 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.
plural of “branch” — a division of some larger or more complex organization
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.”
go or come after and bring or take back
From this reading “"Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."”
brought together in one place
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.”
a metal pot for stewing or boiling; usually has a lid
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.”
plural of “match” — lighter consisting of a thin piece of wood or cardboard tipped with combustible chemical; ignites with friction
From this reading “Then they found they had no matches.”
United States civil rights leader whose college registration caused riots in traditionally segregated Mississippi (born in 1933)
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.”
a coniferous tree
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.”
plural of “stone” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
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.”
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 “Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.”
In this reading “Meredith and Maggie gathered dry pine branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for the kettle with some stones.”
In this reading “A fire was the first thing.”
In this reading “"Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."”
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 fire was the first thing.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading "We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.
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.
a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid
From this reading "Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."
plural of “branch” — a division of some larger or more complex organization
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.
(used of soaps or cleaning agents) having a substance (an abrasive or filler) added to increase effectiveness
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.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading "We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
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.
free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet
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.
go or come after and bring or take back
From this reading "Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."
start firing a weapon
From this reading A fire was the first thing.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading A fire was the first thing.
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.
dismiss from the mind; stop remembering
From this reading "We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.
set up or found
From this reading Then they found they had no matches.
brought together in one place
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.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Then they found they had no matches.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading "Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."
a metal pot for stewing or boiling; usually has a lid
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.
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
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.
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.
plural of “match” — lighter consisting of a thin piece of wood or cardboard tipped with combustible chemical; ignites with friction
From this reading Then they found they had no matches.
United States civil rights leader whose college registration caused riots in traditionally segregated Mississippi (born in 1933)
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.
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
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.
not any; not one
From this reading Then they found they had no matches.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading "Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."
a coniferous tree
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.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
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.
move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading "Now, I'll run home and fetch a box."
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
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.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading "We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.
plural of “stone” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
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.
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.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then they found they had no matches.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Then they found they had no matches.
a special situation
From this reading A fire was the first thing.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A fire was the first thing.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "We _always_ forget something," cried Maggie.
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.
Chapter 3 of Pine Needles by Susan Warner holds 276 sentences, grouped into 56 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 3 holds 276 sentences of Pine Needles, unabridged, divided into 56 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Pine Needles by Susan Warner exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 276 sentences, grouped into 56 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 56 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 56 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 3 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 Pine Needles by Susan Warner on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4700 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #38922 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #38922, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 391 minutes of reading across 940 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Pine Needles section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 22 chapters of Pine Needles 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 Pine Needles, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
