Chapter 3 of Stories of the Railroad is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Stories of the Railroad is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I looked at them and they were calm. "It's all right now, but be careful," they said. Dennis Rafferty had troubles of his own. The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis. He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
Chapter 3 of Stories of the Railroad is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination
From this reading “He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.”
fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period
From this reading “He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.”
shaped or worked with a hammer and often showing hammer marks
From this reading “He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.”
property that is leased or rented out or let
From this reading “The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.”
(baseball) a hit that flies straight out from the batter
From this reading “The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.”
vulgar or irreverent speech or action
From this reading “He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.”
inflected form of “swear” — utter obscenities or profanities
From this reading “He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.”
plural of “trouble” — a source of difficulty
From this reading “Dennis Rafferty had troubles of his own.”
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.
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “I looked at them and they were calm.”
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.
(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 "It's all right now, but be careful," they said.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I looked at them and they were calm.
a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination
From this reading He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading I looked at them and they were calm.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "It's all right now, but be careful," they said.
treated by heating to a high temperature but below the melting or fusing point
From this reading He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading "It's all right now, but be careful," they said.
make calm or still
From this reading I looked at them and they were calm.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
exercising caution or showing care or attention
From this reading "It's all right now, but be careful," they said.
fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period
From this reading He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dennis Rafferty had troubles of his own.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
start firing a weapon
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Dennis Rafferty had troubles of his own.
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
shaped or worked with a hammer and often showing hammer marks
From this reading He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Dennis Rafferty had troubles of his own.
used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I looked at them and they were calm.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It's all right now, but be careful," they said.
property that is leased or rented out or let
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
(baseball) a hit that flies straight out from the batter
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading I looked at them and they were calm.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading "It's all right now, but be careful," they said.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Dennis Rafferty had troubles of his own.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading Dennis Rafferty had troubles of his own.
select carefully from a group
From this reading He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
vulgar or irreverent speech or action
From this reading He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dennis Rafferty had troubles of his own.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
precisely, exactly
From this reading "It's all right now, but be careful," they said.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "It's all right now, but be careful," they said.
inflected form of “swear” — utter obscenities or profanities
From this reading He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading I looked at them and they were calm.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading I looked at them and they were calm.
plural of “trouble” — a source of difficulty
From this reading Dennis Rafferty had troubles of his own.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The liner came off the new fire door letting the door get red hot, but it wasn't half as hot as Dennis.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading I looked at them and they were calm.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He hammered it with the coal pick and burned his hands and swore, and Dennis was an artist in profanity.
Chapter 3 of Stories of the Railroad by John A. (John Alexander) Hill holds 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 3 holds 414 sentences of Stories of the Railroad, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Stories of the Railroad by John A. (John Alexander) Hill exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 3 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 Stories of the Railroad by John A. (John Alexander) Hill on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2462 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #37038 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #37038, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 205 minutes of reading across 493 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Stories of the Railroad section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of Stories of the Railroad 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 Stories of the Railroad, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
