Chapter 1 of Sunshine Bill is here in full — 452 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Sunshine Bill is here in full — 452 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Sunshine Bill, by W H G Kingston. Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed. Bill's mother is a seller of apples. The whole family are a happy, good-humoured lot. Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.
Chapter 1 of Sunshine Bill is here in full — 452 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/90 · 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 “apple” — fruit with red or yellow or green skin and sweet to tart crisp whitish flesh
From this reading “Bill's mother is a seller of apples.”
past form of “befriend” — become friends with
From this reading “Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.”
possessive form of “bill” — a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading “Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.”
a town on the Hudson River in New York
From this reading “Sunshine Bill, by W H G Kingston.”
a port city in southeastern Virginia on the Elizabeth River opposite Norfolk; naval base; shipyards
From this reading “Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.”
possessive form of “seaman” — a man who serves as a sailor
From this reading “Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.”
someone who promotes or exchanges goods or services for money
From this reading “Bill's mother is a seller of apples.”
English historian and son of Sir George Otto Trevelyan whose works include a social history of England and a biography of Garibaldi (1876-1962)
From this reading “Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.”
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 Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
plural of “apple” — fruit with red or yellow or green skin and sweet to tart crisp whitish flesh
From this reading Bill's mother is a seller of apples.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The whole family are a happy, good-humoured lot.
past form of “befriend” — become friends with
From this reading Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading Sunshine Bill, by W H G Kingston.
possessive form of “bill” — a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
a youthful male person
From this reading Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Sunshine Bill, by W H G Kingston.
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
a social unit living together
From this reading The whole family are a happy, good-humoured lot.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
a metric unit of weight equal to one thousandth of a kilogram
From this reading Sunshine Bill, by W H G Kingston.
disposed to please
From this reading The whole family are a happy, good-humoured lot.
a nonmetallic univalent element that is normally a colorless and odorless highly flammable diatomic gas; the simplest and lightest and most abundant element in the universe
From this reading Sunshine Bill, by W H G Kingston.
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading The whole family are a happy, good-humoured lot.
secretly shelter (as of fugitives or criminals)
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
a town on the Hudson River in New York
From this reading Sunshine Bill, by W H G Kingston.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.
(often followed by “of”) a large number or amount or extent
From this reading The whole family are a happy, good-humoured lot.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading Bill's mother is a seller of apples.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Bill's mother is a seller of apples.
plural of “offer” — the verbal act of offering
From this reading Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.
a port city in southeastern Virginia on the Elizabeth River opposite Norfolk; naval base; shipyards
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
possessive form of “seaman” — a man who serves as a sailor
From this reading Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.
someone who promotes or exchanges goods or services for money
From this reading Bill's mother is a seller of apples.
transport commercially
From this reading Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.
the rays of the sun
From this reading Sunshine Bill, by W H G Kingston.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The whole family are a happy, good-humoured lot.
English historian and son of Sir George Otto Trevelyan whose works include a social history of England and a biography of Garibaldi (1876-1962)
From this reading Bill is befriended by a Captain Trevelyan, who offers him a boy seaman's place in his ship, the Lilly.
a heavy grey-white metallic element; the pure form is used mainly in electrical applications; it is found in several ores including wolframite and scheelite
From this reading Sunshine Bill, by W H G Kingston.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
which person or people
From this reading Bill's father is a wherry-man in Portsmouth Harbour, who one day has an accident and is killed.
including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
From this reading The whole family are a happy, good-humoured lot.
Chapter 1 of Sunshine Bill by William Henry Giles Kingston holds 452 sentences, grouped into 91 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 452 sentences of Sunshine Bill, unabridged, divided into 91 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Sunshine Bill by William Henry Giles Kingston exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 452 sentences, grouped into 91 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 91 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 91 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 Sunshine Bill by William Henry Giles Kingston on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2238 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #21480 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #21480, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 186 minutes of reading across 448 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Sunshine Bill section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Sunshine Bill 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 Sunshine Bill, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
