Chapter XXI of Ralph in the Switch Tower, “Ike Slumps "Nutcracker",” is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXI
Chapter XXI of Ralph in the Switch Tower, “Ike Slumps "Nutcracker",” is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Ralph was taken completely off his guard. He struggled violently, but his assailants had the advantage. One of them pinioned his arms. The other tied the rope about them. A second rope was whipped about his ankles, and secured.
Chapter XXI of Ralph in the Switch Tower, “Ike Slumps "Nutcracker",” is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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 “ankle” — a gliding joint between the distal ends of the tibia and fibula and the proximal end of the talus
From this reading “A second rope was whipped about his ankles, and secured.”
plural of “assailant” — someone who attacks
From this reading “He struggled violently, but his assailants had the advantage.”
a strong line
From this reading “The other tied the rope about them.”
past form of “secure” — get by special effort
From this reading “A second rope was whipped about his ankles, and secured.”
past form of “struggle” — make a strenuous or labored effort
From this reading “He struggled violently, but his assailants had the advantage.”
bound or secured closely
From this reading “The other tied the rope about them.”
in a violent manner
From this reading “He struggled violently, but his assailants had the advantage.”
inflected form of “whip” — beat severely with a whip or rod
From this reading “A second rope was whipped about his ankles, and secured.”
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 “He struggled violently, but his assailants had the advantage.”
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 second rope was whipped about his ankles, and secured.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The other tied the rope about them.
the quality of having a superior or more favorable position
From this reading He struggled violently, but his assailants had the advantage.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A second rope was whipped about his ankles, and secured.
plural of “ankle” — a gliding joint between the distal ends of the tibia and fibula and the proximal end of the talus
From this reading A second rope was whipped about his ankles, and secured.
weapons considered collectively
From this reading One of them pinioned his arms.
plural of “assailant” — someone who attacks
From this reading He struggled violently, but his assailants had the advantage.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He struggled violently, but his assailants had the advantage.
to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (“whole” is often used informally for “wholly”)
From this reading Ralph was taken completely off his guard.
a person who keeps watch over something or someone
From this reading Ralph was taken completely off his guard.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He struggled violently, but his assailants had the advantage.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He struggled violently, but his assailants had the advantage.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Ralph was taken completely off his guard.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading One of them pinioned his arms.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Ralph was taken completely off his guard.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One of them pinioned his arms.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading The other tied the rope about them.
(of birds) especially having the flight feathers
From this reading One of them pinioned his arms.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ralph was taken completely off his guard.
a strong line
From this reading The other tied the rope about them.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading A second rope was whipped about his ankles, and secured.
past form of “secure” — get by special effort
From this reading A second rope was whipped about his ankles, and secured.
past form of “struggle” — make a strenuous or labored effort
From this reading He struggled violently, but his assailants had the advantage.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading Ralph was taken completely off his guard.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He struggled violently, but his assailants had the advantage.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading One of them pinioned his arms.
bound or secured closely
From this reading The other tied the rope about them.
in a violent manner
From this reading He struggled violently, but his assailants had the advantage.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Ralph was taken completely off his guard.
inflected form of “whip” — beat severely with a whip or rod
From this reading A second rope was whipped about his ankles, and secured.
Chapter 21 of Ralph in the Switch Tower by Allen Chapman holds 135 sentences, grouped into 27 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 21 holds 135 sentences of Ralph in the Switch Tower, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of Ralph in the Switch Tower by Allen Chapman exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 135 sentences, grouped into 27 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 27 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 27 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 21 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 Ralph in the Switch Tower by Allen Chapman on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4008 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #39051 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #39051, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 334 minutes of reading across 802 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ralph in the Switch Tower section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 32 chapters of Ralph in the Switch Tower 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 Ralph in the Switch Tower, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
