Chapter 20 of Project Cyclops is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of Project Cyclops is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
12:15 A.M. Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge. He also wondered if his impromptu bomb would work as planned. It should. In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
Chapter 20 of Project Cyclops is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
an explosive device fused to explode under specific conditions
From this reading “He also wondered if his impromptu bomb would work as planned.”
a hidden storage space (for money or provisions or weapons)
From this reading “In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.”
the act of digging
From this reading “In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.”
reflecting light
From this reading “Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.”
an extemporaneous speech or remark
From this reading “He also wondered if his impromptu bomb would work as planned.”
the light of the Moon
From this reading “Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.”
designed or carried out according to a plan
From this reading “He also wondered if his impromptu bomb would work as planned.”
a bar or pair of parallel bars of rolled steel making the railway along which railroad cars or other vehicles can roll
From this reading “Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.”
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 “Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 12:15 A.M.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 12:15 A.M.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading 12:15 A.M.
in addition
From this reading He also wondered if his impromptu bomb would work as planned.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading He also wondered if his impromptu bomb would work as planned.
an explosive device fused to explode under specific conditions
From this reading He also wondered if his impromptu bomb would work as planned.
the people of Great Britain
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
a hidden storage space (for money or provisions or weapons)
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
to make a rush at or sudden attack upon, as in battle
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
without deviation
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
the act of digging
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
a type of dynamite in which the nitroglycerin is absorbed in a base of wood pulp and sodium or potassium nitrate
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
reflecting light
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He also wondered if his impromptu bomb would work as planned.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He also wondered if his impromptu bomb would work as planned.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading He also wondered if his impromptu bomb would work as planned.
an extemporaneous speech or remark
From this reading He also wondered if his impromptu bomb would work as planned.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
diode such that light emitted at a p-n junction is proportional to the bias current; color depends on the material used
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
without good reason
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards)
From this reading 12:15 A.M.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
the light of the Moon
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
above and across; more than
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
designed or carried out according to a plan
From this reading He also wondered if his impromptu bomb would work as planned.
a bar or pair of parallel bars of rolled steel making the railway along which railroad cars or other vehicles can roll
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
do one's shopping
From this reading In the shop Cally had led him directly to a cache of British- made gelignite, left over from the days of excavation.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading It should.
an alloy of iron with small amounts of carbon; widely used in construction; mechanical properties can be varied over a wide range
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
carry out
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
past form of “wonder” — have a wish or desire to know something
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading He also wondered if his impromptu bomb would work as planned.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Vance felt the cold steel rails, glistening lightly in the thin moonlight, and wondered how long it would take to set the charge.
Chapter 20 of Project Cyclops by Thomas Hoover holds 408 sentences, grouped into 82 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 20 holds 408 sentences of Project Cyclops, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of Project Cyclops by Thomas Hoover exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 408 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 20 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 Project Cyclops by Thomas Hoover on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 12997 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #34319 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #34319, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2600 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Project Cyclops section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 32 chapters of Project Cyclops 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 Project Cyclops, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
