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.
She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her. The door opened and her uncle stepped out. He wore an untidy dressing-gown. His hair was disordered. His face appeared grayer and more haggard than it had downstairs.
Chapter 1 of The Abandoned Room is here in full — 775 sentences across 155 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 17/155 · 5 reading units · Lines 81–85
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.
thrown into a state of disarray or confusion
From this reading “His hair was disordered.”
on a floor below
From this reading “His face appeared grayer and more haggard than it had downstairs.”
comparative of “gray” — of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading “His face appeared grayer and more haggard than it had downstairs.”
showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
From this reading “His face appeared grayer and more haggard than it had downstairs.”
for an instant or moment
From this reading “She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.”
having confidence restored; freed from anxiety
From this reading “She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.”
agitating a liquid with an implement
From this reading “She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.”
not neat and tidy
From this reading “He wore an untidy dressing-gown.”
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 She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading He wore an untidy dressing-gown.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The door opened and her uncle stepped out.
past form of “appear” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading His face appeared grayer and more haggard than it had downstairs.
on the far side of; further than
From this reading She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.
thrown into a state of disarray or confusion
From this reading His hair was disordered.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading The door opened and her uncle stepped out.
on a floor below
From this reading His face appeared grayer and more haggard than it had downstairs.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He wore an untidy dressing-gown.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading His face appeared grayer and more haggard than it had downstairs.
comparative of “gray” — of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading His face appeared grayer and more haggard than it had downstairs.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading His face appeared grayer and more haggard than it had downstairs.
showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
From this reading His face appeared grayer and more haggard than it had downstairs.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading His hair was disordered.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He wore an untidy dressing-gown.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His hair was disordered.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.
for an instant or moment
From this reading She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading His face appeared grayer and more haggard than it had downstairs.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading The door opened and her uncle stepped out.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading The door opened and her uncle stepped out.
having confidence restored; freed from anxiety
From this reading She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.
inflected form of “step” — shift or move by taking a step
From this reading The door opened and her uncle stepped out.
agitating a liquid with an implement
From this reading She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading His face appeared grayer and more haggard than it had downstairs.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The door opened and her uncle stepped out.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading The door opened and her uncle stepped out.
not neat and tidy
From this reading He wore an untidy dressing-gown.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.
at the time that
From this reading She was about to call when a stirring beyond it momentarily reassured her.
inflected form of “wear” — be dressed in
From this reading He wore an untidy dressing-gown.
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.
