Chapter 9 of Search the Sky is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of Search the Sky is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city. Get me records, facts, anything about the War of the Joneses. If there’s any meaning to the formula it’ll have to lie in that. It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won. Let’s find out what the other side said.
Chapter 9 of Search the Sky is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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 “fact” — a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred
From this reading “Get me records, facts, anything about the War of the Joneses.”
to a faint degree or weakly perceived
From this reading “The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.”
a group of symbols that make a mathematical statement
From this reading “If there’s any meaning to the formula it’ll have to lie in that.”
a mental representation of the meaning or significance of something
From this reading “It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.”
plural of “jones” — United States labor leader (born in Ireland) who helped to found the Industrial Workers of the World (1830-1930)
From this reading “Get me records, facts, anything about the War of the Joneses.”
a depository for collecting and displaying objects having scientific or historical or artistic value
From this reading “The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.”
plural of “record” — anything (such as a document or a phonograph record or a photograph) providing permanent evidence of or information about past events
From this reading “Get me records, facts, anything about the War of the Joneses.”
Scottish explorer who led Arctic expeditions that yielded geographic discoveries while searching for the Northwest Passage (1777-1856)
From this reading “The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.”
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 “Let’s find out what the other side said.”
establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study
In this reading “Let’s find out what the other side said.”
originate (in)
In this reading “If there’s any meaning to the formula it’ll have to lie in that.”
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 It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Get me records, facts, anything about the War of the Joneses.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading If there’s any meaning to the formula it’ll have to lie in that.
any thing at all
From this reading Get me records, facts, anything about the War of the Joneses.
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.
past form of “dare” — take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission
From this reading The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.
a licensed medical practitioner
From this reading The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.
the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.
plural of “fact” — a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred
From this reading Get me records, facts, anything about the War of the Joneses.
to a faint degree or weakly perceived
From this reading The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading Let’s find out what the other side said.
a group of symbols that make a mathematical statement
From this reading If there’s any meaning to the formula it’ll have to lie in that.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Get me records, facts, anything about the War of the Joneses.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading If there’s any meaning to the formula it’ll have to lie in that.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.
a mental representation of the meaning or significance of something
From this reading It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If there’s any meaning to the formula it’ll have to lie in that.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.
plural of “jones” — United States labor leader (born in Ireland) who helped to found the Industrial Workers of the World (1830-1930)
From this reading Get me records, facts, anything about the War of the Joneses.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Let’s find out what the other side said.
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading If there’s any meaning to the formula it’ll have to lie in that.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Get me records, facts, anything about the War of the Joneses.
the message that is intended or expressed or signified
From this reading If there’s any meaning to the formula it’ll have to lie in that.
a depository for collecting and displaying objects having scientific or historical or artistic value
From this reading The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Get me records, facts, anything about the War of the Joneses.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading Let’s find out what the other side said.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Let’s find out what the other side said.
compacted by ironing
From this reading The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.
plural of “record” — anything (such as a document or a phonograph record or a photograph) providing permanent evidence of or information about past events
From this reading Get me records, facts, anything about the War of the Joneses.
Scottish explorer who led Arctic expeditions that yielded geographic discoveries while searching for the Northwest Passage (1777-1856)
From this reading The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.
third-person singular of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading Let’s find out what the other side said.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading If there’s any meaning to the formula it’ll have to lie in that.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The doctor said faintly, “If I dared——” Ross pressed, “The museum in Earth city.
in or at that place or location
From this reading It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If there’s any meaning to the formula it’ll have to lie in that.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading If there’s any meaning to the formula it’ll have to lie in that.
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading Get me records, facts, anything about the War of the Joneses.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Let’s find out what the other side said.
which person or people
From this reading It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.
the basic unit of money in South Korea
From this reading It seems there was a battle about its interpretation and we know who won.
Chapter 9 of Search the Sky by Frederik Pohl holds 425 sentences, grouped into 85 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 9 holds 425 sentences of Search the Sky, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of Search the Sky by Frederik Pohl exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 425 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 9 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 Search the Sky by Frederik Pohl on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4770 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #52228 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #52228, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 397 minutes of reading across 954 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Search the Sky section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of Search the Sky 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 Search the Sky, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
