Chapter 1 of Signal Red is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Signal Red is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
They tried to stop him. Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him. Uranian death lay athwart the space lanes. But Shano already knew this was his last ride. Mercurian night settled black and thick over the Q City Spaceport.
Chapter 1 of Signal Red is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
at right angles to the center line of a ship
From this reading “Uranian death lay athwart the space lanes.”
box in which a corpse is buried or cremated
From this reading “Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him.”
a formation of aircraft in flight
From this reading “Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him.”
plural of “lane” — a narrow way or road
From this reading “Uranian death lay athwart the space lanes.”
sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading “But Shano already knew this was his last ride.”
established or decided beyond dispute or doubt
From this reading “Mercurian night settled black and thick over the Q City Spaceport.”
the act of killing yourself
From this reading “Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him.”
not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
From this reading “Mercurian night settled black and thick over the Q City Spaceport.”
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.
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him.
prior to a specified or implied time
From this reading But Shano already knew this was his last ride.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Mercurian night settled black and thick over the Q City Spaceport.
at right angles to the center line of a ship
From this reading Uranian death lay athwart the space lanes.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading Mercurian night settled black and thick over the Q City Spaceport.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But Shano already knew this was his last ride.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading Mercurian night settled black and thick over the Q City Spaceport.
box in which a corpse is buried or cremated
From this reading Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him.
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading Uranian death lay athwart the space lanes.
the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him.
a formation of aircraft in flight
From this reading Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading They tried to stop him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading But Shano already knew this was his last ride.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading But Shano already knew this was his last ride.
plural of “lane” — a narrow way or road
From this reading Uranian death lay athwart the space lanes.
immediately past
From this reading But Shano already knew this was his last ride.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Uranian death lay athwart the space lanes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mercurian night settled black and thick over the Q City Spaceport.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading Mercurian night settled black and thick over the Q City Spaceport.
above and across; more than
From this reading Mercurian night settled black and thick over the Q City Spaceport.
the 17th letter of the Roman alphabet
From this reading Mercurian night settled black and thick over the Q City Spaceport.
sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading But Shano already knew this was his last ride.
move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him.
established or decided beyond dispute or doubt
From this reading Mercurian night settled black and thick over the Q City Spaceport.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But Shano already knew this was his last ride.
transport commercially
From this reading Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him.
the unlimited expanse in which everything is located
From this reading Uranian death lay athwart the space lanes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mercurian night settled black and thick over the Q City Spaceport.
come to a halt, stop moving
From this reading They tried to stop him.
the act of killing yourself
From this reading Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Uranian death lay athwart the space lanes.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They tried to stop him.
not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
From this reading Mercurian night settled black and thick over the Q City Spaceport.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading But Shano already knew this was his last ride.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They tried to stop him.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him.
tested and proved useful or correct
From this reading They tried to stop him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Uranian death lay athwart the space lanes.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Earth Flight 21 was a suicide run, a coffin ship, they told him.
Chapter 1 of Signal Red by Henry Guth holds 403 sentences, grouped into 81 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 403 sentences of Signal Red, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Signal Red by Henry Guth exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 403 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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.
Common questions about reading Signal Red by Henry Guth on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 403 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #63860 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #63860, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 33 minutes of reading across 81 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Signal Red section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of Signal Red 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 Signal Red, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
