Chapter 4 of The Bird boys is here in full — 149 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Bird boys is here in full — 149 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
TRYING OUT THE ENGINE. “Oh! Frank!” Andy had turned white, and looked weak. A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.
Chapter 4 of The Bird boys is here in full — 149 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/29 · 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.
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading “A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.”
motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work
From this reading “TRYING OUT THE ENGINE.”
a feeling of evil to come
From this reading “A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.”
characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion
From this reading “Frank!””
past form of “seize” — take hold of; grab
From this reading “A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.”
happening unexpectedly
From this reading “A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.”
hard to endure
From this reading “TRYING OUT THE ENGINE.”
wanting in physical strength
From this reading “Andy had turned white, and looked weak.”
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 “A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.”
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 A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Andy had turned white, and looked weak.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Andy had turned white, and looked weak.
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.
motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work
From this reading TRYING OUT THE ENGINE.
a feeling of evil to come
From this reading A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.
characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion
From this reading Frank!”
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Andy had turned white, and looked weak.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Andy had turned white, and looked weak.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading “Oh!
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading TRYING OUT THE ENGINE.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.
past form of “seize” — take hold of; grab
From this reading A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading TRYING OUT THE ENGINE.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.
hard to endure
From this reading TRYING OUT THE ENGINE.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Andy had turned white, and looked weak.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading A dreadful foreboding seemed to have suddenly seized upon him.
wanting in physical strength
From this reading Andy had turned white, and looked weak.
a Caucasian
From this reading Andy had turned white, and looked weak.
Chapter 4 of The Bird boys by John Luther Langworthy holds 149 sentences, grouped into 30 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 149 sentences of The Bird boys, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Bird boys by John Luther Langworthy exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 149 sentences, grouped into 30 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 30 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 30 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 Bird boys by John Luther Langworthy 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 Bird boys section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The Bird boys 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 Bird boys, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
