Chapter 2 of Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox is here in full — 131 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox is here in full — 131 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey. The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox. “Let me catch him!” whispered Sharp Eyes. “I saw him first, let me creep up and jump on him!” “No,” whispered his mother.
Chapter 2 of Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox is here in full — 131 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/26 · 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 “berry” — any of numerous small and pulpy edible fruits; used as desserts or in making jams and jellies and preserves
From this reading “The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox.”
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox.”
plural of “catch” — a drawback or difficulty that is not readily evident
From this reading “SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.”
move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading “SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.”
the act of consuming food
From this reading “The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox.”
alert carnivorous mammal with pointed muzzle and ears and a bushy tail; most are predators that do not hunt in packs
From this reading “SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.”
move forward by leaps and bounds
From this reading ““I saw him first, let me creep up and jump on him!””
large gallinaceous bird with fan-shaped tail; widely domesticated for food
From this reading “SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.”
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 “SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.”
In this reading “SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.”
In this reading “SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.”
advance stealthily or unnoticed
In this reading ““I saw him first, let me creep up and jump on him!””
In this reading “SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.”
get up on the back of
In this reading ““I saw him first, let me creep up and jump on him!””
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
plural of “berry” — any of numerous small and pulpy edible fruits; used as desserts or in making jams and jellies and preserves
From this reading The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox.
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox.
taking care or paying attention
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading “Let me catch him!” whispered Sharp Eyes.
plural of “catch” — a drawback or difficulty that is not readily evident
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
the act of consuming food
From this reading The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox.
opinion or judgment
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading “I saw him first, let me creep up and jump on him!”
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox.
alert carnivorous mammal with pointed muzzle and ears and a bushy tail; most are predators that do not hunt in packs
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Let me catch him!” whispered Sharp Eyes.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I saw him first, let me creep up and jump on him!”
move forward by leaps and bounds
From this reading “I saw him first, let me creep up and jump on him!”
the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading “Let me catch him!” whispered Sharp Eyes.
the act that results in something coming to be
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Let me catch him!” whispered Sharp Eyes.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading “No,” whispered his mother.
a form of address for a man
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
not any; not one
From this reading “No,” whispered his mother.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading “I saw him first, let me creep up and jump on him!”
cut with a saw
From this reading “I saw him first, let me creep up and jump on him!”
(of something seen or heard) clearly defined
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
in the direction of
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
large gallinaceous bird with fan-shaped tail; widely domesticated for food
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading “I saw him first, let me creep up and jump on him!”
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The big bird was eating some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox.
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading “Let me catch him!” whispered Sharp Eyes.
marked by extreme lack of restraint or control
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep through the woods toward the wild turkey.
Chapter 2 of Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox by Richard Barnum holds 131 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 2 holds 131 sentences of Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox by Richard Barnum exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 131 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 2 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 Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox by Richard Barnum on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1815 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #62441 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #62441, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 151 minutes of reading across 363 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox 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 Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
