Chapter 1 of The Battleship Boys' First Step Upward is here in full — 193 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Battleship Boys' First Step Upward is here in full — 193 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Made in U. S. A. "Green light off the starboard bow, sir." The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island." "Where away?" demanded the watch officer on the bridge. "Two points off starboard bow, sir."
Chapter 1 of The Battleship Boys' First Step Upward is here in full — 193 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
large and heavily armoured warship
From this reading “The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."”
a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces
From this reading “"Green light off the starboard bow, sir."”
a structure that allows people or vehicles to cross an obstacle such as a river or canal or railway etc.
From this reading “The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."”
past form of “demand” — request urgently and forcefully
From this reading “"Where away?" demanded the watch officer on the bridge.”
-ing form of “navigate” — travel on water propelled by wind or by other means
From this reading “The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."”
plural of “point” — a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading “"Two points off starboard bow, sir."”
the right side of a ship or aircraft to someone who is aboard and facing the bow or nose
From this reading “"Green light off the starboard bow, sir."”
lacking any legal or binding force
From this reading “The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."”
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 “"Green light off the starboard bow, sir."”
In this reading “"Where away?" demanded the watch officer on the bridge.”
In this reading “The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."”
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 Made in U. S. A.
higher than, or over, something
From this reading The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading "Where away?" demanded the watch officer on the bridge.
large and heavily armoured warship
From this reading The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."
a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces
From this reading "Green light off the starboard bow, sir."
a structure that allows people or vehicles to cross an obstacle such as a river or canal or railway etc.
From this reading The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."
past form of “demand” — request urgently and forcefully
From this reading "Where away?" demanded the watch officer on the bridge.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."
green color or pigment; resembling the color of growing grass
From this reading "Green light off the starboard bow, sir."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Made in U. S. A.
a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
From this reading The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading "Green light off the starboard bow, sir."
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Made in U. S. A.
-ing form of “navigate” — travel on water propelled by wind or by other means
From this reading The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading "Green light off the starboard bow, sir."
any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command
From this reading "Where away?" demanded the watch officer on the bridge.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "Where away?" demanded the watch officer on the bridge.
plural of “point” — a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading "Two points off starboard bow, sir."
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading Made in U. S. A.
term of address for a man
From this reading "Green light off the starboard bow, sir."
the right side of a ship or aircraft to someone who is aboard and facing the bow or nose
From this reading "Green light off the starboard bow, sir."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Green light off the starboard bow, sir."
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading "Two points off starboard bow, sir."
a base containing nitrogen that is found in RNA (but not in DNA) and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with adenine
From this reading Made in U. S. A.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."
lacking any legal or binding force
From this reading The voice came from the black void far above the navigating bridge of the battleship "Long Island."
look attentively
From this reading "Where away?" demanded the watch officer on the bridge.
in or at the place that
From this reading "Where away?" demanded the watch officer on the bridge.
Chapter 1 of The Battleship Boys' First Step Upward by Frank Gee Patchin holds 193 sentences, grouped into 39 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 193 sentences of The Battleship Boys' First Step Upward, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Battleship Boys' First Step Upward by Frank Gee Patchin exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 193 sentences, grouped into 39 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 39 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 39 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 Battleship Boys' First Step Upward by Frank Gee Patchin on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3908 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32886 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32886, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 325 minutes of reading across 782 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Battleship Boys' First Step Upward section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Battleship Boys' First Step Upward 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 Battleship Boys' First Step Upward, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
