Chapter 1 of The Beachcomber is here in full — 340 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Beachcomber is here in full — 340 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future. Tragically, he was both!... Maxwell and the girl started their weekend on Thursday, in Venice. Friday they went to Paris, Saturday to Nice, and on Sunday they were bored. Alice pouted at him across the breakfast table.
Chapter 1 of The Beachcomber is here in full — 340 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/68 · 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.
a vagrant living on a beach
From this reading “Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.”
a well-built sexually attractive man
From this reading “Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.”
a cgs unit of magnetic flux equal to the flux perpendicular to an area of 1 square centimeter in a magnetic field of 1 gauss
From this reading “Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.”
past form of “pout” — be in a huff and display one's displeasure
From this reading “Alice pouted at him across the breakfast table.”
of the highest quality
From this reading “Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.”
in a tragic manner; with tragic consequences
From this reading “Tragically, he was both!...”
the provincial capital of Veneto; built on 118 islands within a lagoon in the Gulf of Venice; has canals instead of streets; one of Italy's major ports and a famous tourist attraction
From this reading “Maxwell and the girl started their weekend on Thursday, in Venice.”
a time period usually extending from Friday night through Sunday; more loosely defined as any period of successive days including one and only one Sunday
From this reading “Maxwell and the girl started their weekend on Thursday, in Venice.”
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.
a table where breakfast is eaten
In this reading “Alice pouted at him across the breakfast table.”
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 Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading Alice pouted at him across the breakfast table.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Maxwell and the girl started their weekend on Thursday, in Venice.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Alice pouted at him across the breakfast table.
a vagrant living on a beach
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
tired of the world
From this reading Friday they went to Paris, Saturday to Nice, and on Sunday they were bored.
the two together, not just one
From this reading Tragically, he was both!...
eat an early morning meal
From this reading Alice pouted at him across the breakfast table.
the sixth day of the week; the fifth working day
From this reading Friday they went to Paris, Saturday to Nice, and on Sunday they were bored.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
yet to be or coming
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
a young female
From this reading Maxwell and the girl started their weekend on Thursday, in Venice.
having or deserving or conferring glory
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Tragically, he was both!...
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
a well-built sexually attractive man
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Maxwell and the girl started their weekend on Thursday, in Venice.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
a cgs unit of magnetic flux equal to the flux perpendicular to an area of 1 square centimeter in a magnetic field of 1 gauss
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
From this reading Friday they went to Paris, Saturday to Nice, and on Sunday they were bored.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Maxwell and the girl started their weekend on Thursday, in Venice.
the capital and largest city of France; and international center of culture and commerce
From this reading Friday they went to Paris, Saturday to Nice, and on Sunday they were bored.
past form of “pout” — be in a huff and display one's displeasure
From this reading Alice pouted at him across the breakfast table.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Friday they went to Paris, Saturday to Nice, and on Sunday they were bored.
cut with a saw
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
past form of “start” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Maxwell and the girl started their weekend on Thursday, in Venice.
first day of the week; observed as a day of rest and worship by most Christians
From this reading Friday they went to Paris, Saturday to Nice, and on Sunday they were bored.
of the highest quality
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading Alice pouted at him across the breakfast table.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Alice saw the Beachcomber as a glorious hunk of man; Maxwell saw him as a super being from the future.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Maxwell and the girl started their weekend on Thursday, in Venice.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Friday they went to Paris, Saturday to Nice, and on Sunday they were bored.
the fifth day of the week; the fourth working day
From this reading Maxwell and the girl started their weekend on Thursday, in Venice.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Friday they went to Paris, Saturday to Nice, and on Sunday they were bored.
in a tragic manner; with tragic consequences
From this reading Tragically, he was both!...
the provincial capital of Veneto; built on 118 islands within a lagoon in the Gulf of Venice; has canals instead of streets; one of Italy's major ports and a famous tourist attraction
From this reading Maxwell and the girl started their weekend on Thursday, in Venice.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Tragically, he was both!...
a time period usually extending from Friday night through Sunday; more loosely defined as any period of successive days including one and only one Sunday
From this reading Maxwell and the girl started their weekend on Thursday, in Venice.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Friday they went to Paris, Saturday to Nice, and on Sunday they were bored.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Friday they went to Paris, Saturday to Nice, and on Sunday they were bored.
Chapter 1 of The Beachcomber by Damon Knight holds 340 sentences, grouped into 68 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 340 sentences of The Beachcomber, unabridged, divided into 68 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Beachcomber by Damon Knight exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 340 sentences, grouped into 68 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 68 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 68 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 Beachcomber by Damon Knight 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 Beachcomber section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The Beachcomber 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 Beachcomber, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
