Chapter 1 of The Abandoned Room is here in full — 775 sentences across 155 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Abandoned Room is here in full — 775 sentences across 155 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Carlos!" he whispered. He heard Maria's voice dimly: "Take him home." A hand touched his arm. With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm. And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.
Chapter 1 of The Abandoned Room is here in full — 775 sentences across 155 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 111/155 · 5 reading units · Lines 551–555
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.
Venezuelan master terrorist raised by a Marxist-Leninist father; trained and worked with many terrorist groups (born in 1949)
From this reading “"Carlos!" he whispered.”
in a dim indistinct manner
From this reading “He heard Maria's voice dimly: "Take him home."”
(comparative of “few” used with count nouns) quantifier meaning a smaller number of
From this reading “And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.”
subject to guidance or control especially after launching
From this reading “With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.”
plural of “impression” — a vague idea in which some confidence is placed
From this reading “And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.”
possessive form of “maria” — a dark region of considerable extent on the surface of the moon
From this reading “He heard Maria's voice dimly: "Take him home."”
set down or registered in a permanent form especially on film or tape for reproduction
From this reading “And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.”
final or last in your life or progress
From this reading “With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.”
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 A hand touched his arm.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading A hand touched his arm.
that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.
Venezuelan master terrorist raised by a Marxist-Leninist father; trained and worked with many terrorist groups (born in 1949)
From this reading "Carlos!" he whispered.
in a dim indistinct manner
From this reading He heard Maria's voice dimly: "Take him home."
earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something
From this reading With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.
(comparative of “few” used with count nouns) quantifier meaning a smaller number of
From this reading And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.
subject to guidance or control especially after launching
From this reading With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading A hand touched his arm.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Carlos!" he whispered.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading He heard Maria's voice dimly: "Take him home."
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He heard Maria's voice dimly: "Take him home."
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading A hand touched his arm.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading He heard Maria's voice dimly: "Take him home."
plural of “impression” — a vague idea in which some confidence is placed
From this reading And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.
possessive form of “maria” — a dark region of considerable extent on the surface of the moon
From this reading He heard Maria's voice dimly: "Take him home."
The faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information and knowledge.
From this reading And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.
set down or registered in a permanent form especially on film or tape for reproduction
From this reading And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.
make a strenuous or labored effort
From this reading And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.
final or last in your life or progress
From this reading With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.
carry out
From this reading He heard Maria's voice dimly: "Take him home."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading And always his brain recorded fewer and fewer impressions for his memory to struggle with later.
having come into contact
From this reading A hand touched his arm.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading He heard Maria's voice dimly: "Take him home."
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading "Carlos!" he whispered.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.
in the company of; together with
From this reading With a supreme effort of will he walked from the room, guided by the hand on his arm.
Chapter 1 of The Abandoned Room by Wadsworth Camp holds 775 sentences, grouped into 155 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 775 sentences of The Abandoned Room, unabridged, divided into 155 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Abandoned Room by Wadsworth Camp exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 775 sentences, grouped into 155 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 155 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 155 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 The Abandoned Room by Wadsworth Camp on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Abandoned Room section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The Abandoned Room 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 The Abandoned Room, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
