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.
He had never seen this place before. He lay on the floor of an empty room. The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds. There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners. In the silent, deserted room the beating of his heart became audible.
Chapter 1 of The Abandoned Room is here in full — 775 sentences across 155 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 125/155 · 5 reading units · Lines 621–625
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.
heard or perceptible by the ear
From this reading “In the silent, deserted room the beating of his heart became audible.”
plural of “blind” — people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
From this reading “The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.”
growing close together but not in dense mats
From this reading “There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners.”
plural of “cobweb” — a fabric so delicate and transparent as to resemble a web of a spider
From this reading “There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners.”
the state of being covered with unclean things
From this reading “There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners.”
a line that forms the length of an arrow pointer
From this reading “The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.”
in a tight or constricted manner
From this reading “The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.”
plural of “wail” — a cry of sorrow and grief
From this reading “There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners.”
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 The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading He lay on the floor of an empty room.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners.
aroused to action
From this reading The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
heard or perceptible by the ear
From this reading In the silent, deserted room the beating of his heart became audible.
the act of overcoming or outdoing
From this reading In the silent, deserted room the beating of his heart became audible.
inflected form of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading In the silent, deserted room the beating of his heart became audible.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading He had never seen this place before.
plural of “blind” — people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
From this reading The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
growing close together but not in dense mats
From this reading There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners.
plural of “cobweb” — a fabric so delicate and transparent as to resemble a web of a spider
From this reading There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners.
plural of “corner” — a place off to the side of an area
From this reading There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners.
become fractured; break or crack on the surface only
From this reading The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
forsaken by owner or inhabitants
From this reading In the silent, deserted room the beating of his heart became audible.
showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
From this reading The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
remove the dust from
From this reading There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners.
make void or empty of contents
From this reading He lay on the floor of an empty room.
past form of “enter” — to come or go into
From this reading The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
the inside lower horizontal surface (as of a room, hallway, tent, or other structure)
From this reading He lay on the floor of an empty room.
the state of being covered with unclean things
From this reading There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had never seen this place before.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had never seen this place before.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading In the silent, deserted room the beating of his heart became audible.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading In the silent, deserted room the beating of his heart became audible.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading He lay on the floor of an empty room.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading He had never seen this place before.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He lay on the floor of an empty room.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He lay on the floor of an empty room.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading He had never seen this place before.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading He lay on the floor of an empty room.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading He had never seen this place before.
a line that forms the length of an arrow pointer
From this reading The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
marked by absence of sound
From this reading In the silent, deserted room the beating of his heart became audible.
the rays of the sun
From this reading The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He lay on the floor of an empty room.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading He had never seen this place before.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
in a tight or constricted manner
From this reading The shaft of sunlight that had aroused him entered through a crack in one of the tightly drawn blinds.
plural of “wail” — a cry of sorrow and grief
From this reading There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading There were dust and grime on the wails, and cobwebs clustered in the corners.
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.
