Chapter 1 of Ribbon in the sky is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Ribbon in the sky is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call. This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here. That glowing ribbon had not been hung out for nothing. "Med Ship Esclipus Twenty," he said confidently into the spacephone mike. "Calling ground.
Chapter 1 of Ribbon in the sky is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 39/83 · 5 reading units · Lines 191–195
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.
a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of their home state but are not literally under the home state's system of government
From this reading “This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here.”
with confidence; in a confident manner
From this reading “"Med Ship Esclipus Twenty," he said confidently into the spacephone mike.”
highly enthusiastic
From this reading “That glowing ribbon had not been hung out for nothing.”
an intermediate platform in a staircase
From this reading “Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call.”
a master's degree in education
From this reading “Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call.”
the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatan
From this reading “This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here.”
device for converting sound waves into electrical energy
From this reading “"Med Ship Esclipus Twenty," he said confidently into the spacephone mike.”
any long object resembling a thin line
From this reading “That glowing ribbon had not been hung out for nothing.”
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.
spend time in a certain location or with certain people
In this reading “That glowing ribbon had not been hung out for nothing.”
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 Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading That glowing ribbon had not been hung out for nothing.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call.
the particular occupation for which you are trained
From this reading "Calling ground.
a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of their home state but are not literally under the home state's system of government
From this reading This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here.
with confidence; in a confident manner
From this reading "Med Ship Esclipus Twenty," he said confidently into the spacephone mike.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Med Ship Esclipus Twenty," he said confidently into the spacephone mike.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call.
highly enthusiastic
From this reading That glowing ribbon had not been hung out for nothing.
the solid part of the earth's surface
From this reading "Calling ground.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading That glowing ribbon had not been hung out for nothing.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Med Ship Esclipus Twenty," he said confidently into the spacephone mike.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here.
inflected form of “hang” — be suspended or hanging
From this reading That glowing ribbon had not been hung out for nothing.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading "Med Ship Esclipus Twenty," he said confidently into the spacephone mike.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call.
an intermediate platform in a staircase
From this reading Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call.
a master's degree in education
From this reading Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call.
the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatan
From this reading This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here.
device for converting sound waves into electrical energy
From this reading "Med Ship Esclipus Twenty," he said confidently into the spacephone mike.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading That glowing ribbon had not been hung out for nothing.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading That glowing ribbon had not been hung out for nothing.
the particular portion of space occupied by something
From this reading Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call.
any long object resembling a thin line
From this reading That glowing ribbon had not been hung out for nothing.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Med Ship Esclipus Twenty," he said confidently into the spacephone mike.
transport commercially
From this reading Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Med Ship Esclipus Twenty," he said confidently into the spacephone mike.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That glowing ribbon had not been hung out for nothing.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call.
in or at that place or location
From this reading This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Calhoun jockeyed the Med Ship to position for a landing call.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nineteen and one
From this reading "Med Ship Esclipus Twenty," he said confidently into the spacephone mike.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading This was not Merida II, but there should be a colony here.
Chapter 1 of Ribbon in the sky by Murray Leinster holds 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 416 sentences of Ribbon in the sky, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Ribbon in the sky by Murray Leinster exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in Ribbon in the sky, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
