Chapter 14 of Scorched Earth 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 XIV
Chapter 14 of Scorched Earth is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
They had finally made their way to where it all first happened. Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door. "Here it is, Lloyd!" Lloyd saw Boyce's excitement as he put the key into the lock and turned it. He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
Chapter 14 of Scorched Earth 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.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading “Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.”
constituting the full quantity or extent; complete
From this reading “He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.”
more quickly
From this reading “Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.”
metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
From this reading “Lloyd saw Boyce's excitement as he put the key into the lock and turned it.”
United States comic actor in silent films; he used physical danger as a source of comedy (1893-1971)
From this reading “"Here it is, Lloyd!"”
fasten with a lock
From this reading “Lloyd saw Boyce's excitement as he put the key into the lock and turned it.”
-ing form of “loom” — come into view indistinctly, often threateningly
From this reading “He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.”
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading “Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.”
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 “Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.”
In this reading “Lloyd saw Boyce's excitement as he put the key into the lock and turned it.”
In this reading “He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.”
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 He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading They had finally made their way to where it all first happened.
in addition
From this reading He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Lloyd saw Boyce's excitement as he put the key into the lock and turned it.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.
definite but not specified or identified
From this reading He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.
constituting the full quantity or extent; complete
From this reading He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
the feeling of lively and cheerful joy
From this reading Lloyd saw Boyce's excitement as he put the key into the lock and turned it.
more quickly
From this reading Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
after an unspecified period of time or an especially long delay
From this reading They had finally made their way to where it all first happened.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading They had finally made their way to where it all first happened.
the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading They had finally made their way to where it all first happened.
past form of “happen” — come to pass
From this reading They had finally made their way to where it all first happened.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading "Here it is, Lloyd!"
a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Lloyd saw Boyce's excitement as he put the key into the lock and turned it.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Here it is, Lloyd!"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading They had finally made their way to where it all first happened.
metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
From this reading Lloyd saw Boyce's excitement as he put the key into the lock and turned it.
United States comic actor in silent films; he used physical danger as a source of comedy (1893-1971)
From this reading "Here it is, Lloyd!"
fasten with a lock
From this reading Lloyd saw Boyce's excitement as he put the key into the lock and turned it.
-ing form of “loom” — come into view indistinctly, often threateningly
From this reading He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading They had finally made their way to where it all first happened.
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.
above and across; more than
From this reading He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
the state of being present; current existence
From this reading He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Lloyd saw Boyce's excitement as he put the key into the lock and turned it.
cut with a saw
From this reading Lloyd saw Boyce's excitement as he put the key into the lock and turned it.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
in the near future
From this reading He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading They had finally made their way to where it all first happened.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They had finally made their way to where it all first happened.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They had finally made their way to where it all first happened.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Lloyd saw Boyce's excitement as he put the key into the lock and turned it.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading They had finally made their way to where it all first happened.
in or at the place that
From this reading They had finally made their way to where it all first happened.
Chapter 14 of Scorched Earth by Walter D. Petrovic 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 14 holds 408 sentences of Scorched Earth, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of Scorched Earth by Walter D. Petrovic 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 14 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 Scorched Earth by Walter D. Petrovic 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 Scorched Earth section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Scorched Earth 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 Scorched Earth, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
