Chapter 1 of Poisoned Air is here in full — 764 sentences across 153 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Poisoned Air is here in full — 764 sentences across 153 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Suddenly he paused. The boat had turned and was coming back. Hurriedly he returned to his hiding place. The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore. Dr. Bird gripped his pistol and waited.
Chapter 1 of Poisoned Air is here in full — 764 sentences across 153 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 114/152 · 5 reading units · Lines 566–570
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.
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “Dr. Bird gripped his pistol and waited.”
past form of “crouch” — bend one's back forward from the waist on down
From this reading “The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.”
inflected form of “grip” — hold fast or firmly
From this reading “Dr. Bird gripped his pistol and waited.”
the activity of keeping something secret
From this reading “Hurriedly he returned to his hiding place.”
in a hurried or hasty manner
From this reading “Hurriedly he returned to his hiding place.”
being directly across from each other; facing
From this reading “The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.”
past form of “pause” — interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing
From this reading “Suddenly he paused.”
a firearm that is held and fired with one hand
From this reading “Dr. Bird gripped his pistol and waited.”
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.
a place suitable for hiding something (such as yourself)
In this reading “Hurriedly he returned to his hiding place.”
In this reading “The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.”
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
In this reading “The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The boat had turned and was coming back.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading The boat had turned and was coming back.
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading Dr. Bird gripped his pistol and waited.
a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading The boat had turned and was coming back.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading The boat had turned and was coming back.
past form of “crouch” — bend one's back forward from the waist on down
From this reading The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dr. Bird gripped his pistol and waited.
inflected form of “grip” — hold fast or firmly
From this reading Dr. Bird gripped his pistol and waited.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The boat had turned and was coming back.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Suddenly he paused.
the activity of keeping something secret
From this reading Hurriedly he returned to his hiding place.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Hurriedly he returned to his hiding place.
in a hurried or hasty manner
From this reading Hurriedly he returned to his hiding place.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.
being directly across from each other; facing
From this reading The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.
past form of “pause” — interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing
From this reading Suddenly he paused.
a firearm that is held and fired with one hand
From this reading Dr. Bird gripped his pistol and waited.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading Hurriedly he returned to his hiding place.
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.
past form of “return” — go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading Hurriedly he returned to his hiding place.
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.
the land along the edge of a body of water
From this reading The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading Suddenly he paused.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The boat had turned and was coming back.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Hurriedly he returned to his hiding place.
in the direction of
From this reading The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading The boat had turned and was coming back.
up to a particular time
From this reading The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.
past form of “wait” — stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading Dr. Bird gripped his pistol and waited.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The boat had turned and was coming back.
in or at the place that
From this reading The boat came down the river until it was opposite the point where he crouched, and then it turned and came in toward the shore.
Chapter 1 of Poisoned Air by S. P. (Sterner St. Paul) Meek holds 764 sentences, grouped into 153 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 764 sentences of Poisoned Air, unabridged, divided into 153 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Poisoned Air by S. P. (Sterner St. Paul) Meek exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 764 sentences, grouped into 153 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 153 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 153 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 Poisoned Air by S. P. (Sterner St. Paul) Meek 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 Poisoned Air section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Poisoned Air 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 Poisoned Air, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
