Chapter 4 of The adventures of Captain O'Shea is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The adventures of Captain O'Shea is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Thirty miles! Five hours or more at the speed we’re makin’. It will be a close finish, Cap’n Mike.” “Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.” The _Fearless_ wallowed sluggishly over a rolling, foamy, blue sea.
Chapter 4 of The adventures of Captain O'Shea is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
oblivious of dangers or perils or calmly resolute in facing them
plural of “finish” — a decorative texture or appearance of a surface (or the substance that gives it that appearance)
From this reading ““Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.””
producing or covered with lathery sweat or saliva from exhaustion or disease
From this reading “The _Fearless_ wallowed sluggishly over a rolling, foamy, blue sea.”
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading ““Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.””
battles in World War II in the Pacific (November 1943); United States Marines took the islands from the Japanese after bitter fighting
From this reading “Five hours or more at the speed we’re makin’.”
device for converting sound waves into electrical energy
From this reading “It will be a close finish, Cap’n Mike.””
in a sluggish manner
From this reading “The _Fearless_ wallowed sluggishly over a rolling, foamy, blue sea.”
past form of “wallow” — devote oneself entirely to something; indulge in to an immoderate degree, usually with pleasure
From this reading “The _Fearless_ wallowed sluggishly over a rolling, foamy, blue sea.”
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.
In this reading ““Thirty miles!”
In this reading “Five hours or more at the speed we’re makin’.”
In this reading “The _Fearless_ wallowed sluggishly over a rolling, foamy, blue sea.”
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 It will be a close finish, Cap’n Mike.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.”
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Five hours or more at the speed we’re makin’.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It will be a close finish, Cap’n Mike.”
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading The _Fearless_ wallowed sluggishly over a rolling, foamy, blue sea.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It will be a close finish, Cap’n Mike.”
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading It will be a close finish, Cap’n Mike.”
oblivious of dangers or perils or calmly resolute in facing them
From this reading The _Fearless_ wallowed sluggishly over a rolling, foamy, blue sea.
come or bring to a finish or an end
From this reading It will be a close finish, Cap’n Mike.”
plural of “finish” — a decorative texture or appearance of a surface (or the substance that gives it that appearance)
From this reading “Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.”
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading Five hours or more at the speed we’re makin’.
producing or covered with lathery sweat or saliva from exhaustion or disease
From this reading The _Fearless_ wallowed sluggishly over a rolling, foamy, blue sea.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading “Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.”
a contest with rules to determine a winner
From this reading “Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.”
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading Five hours or more at the speed we’re makin’.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It will be a close finish, Cap’n Mike.”
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading “Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.”
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading “Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.”
battles in World War II in the Pacific (November 1943); United States Marines took the islands from the Japanese after bitter fighting
From this reading Five hours or more at the speed we’re makin’.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.”
device for converting sound waves into electrical energy
From this reading It will be a close finish, Cap’n Mike.”
plural of “mile” — a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
From this reading “Thirty miles!
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Five hours or more at the speed we’re makin’.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.”
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Five hours or more at the speed we’re makin’.
above and across; more than
From this reading The _Fearless_ wallowed sluggishly over a rolling, foamy, blue sea.
uttered with a trill
From this reading The _Fearless_ wallowed sluggishly over a rolling, foamy, blue sea.
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading The _Fearless_ wallowed sluggishly over a rolling, foamy, blue sea.
third-person singular of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading “Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.”
in a sluggish manner
From this reading The _Fearless_ wallowed sluggishly over a rolling, foamy, blue sea.
move hurridly
From this reading Five hours or more at the speed we’re makin’.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Five hours or more at the speed we’re makin’.
the cardinal number that is the product of ten and three
From this reading “Thirty miles!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.”
past form of “wallow” — devote oneself entirely to something; indulge in to an immoderate degree, usually with pleasure
From this reading The _Fearless_ wallowed sluggishly over a rolling, foamy, blue sea.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Five hours or more at the speed we’re makin’.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading It will be a close finish, Cap’n Mike.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Life seems to be a game of close finishes for you and me, Johnny.”
Chapter 4 of The adventures of Captain O'Shea by Ralph Delahaye Paine holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 4 holds 409 sentences of The adventures of Captain O'Shea, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The adventures of Captain O'Shea by Ralph Delahaye Paine exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 4 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 adventures of Captain O'Shea by Ralph Delahaye Paine on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6959 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #73510 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #73510, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 579 minutes of reading across 1392 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The adventures of Captain O'Shea section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The adventures of Captain O'Shea 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 adventures of Captain O'Shea, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
