Chapter 1 of The Birds of Lorrane is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Birds of Lorrane is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Intelligent birds! They knew a dead-end planet when they visited one! Ingomar Bjorgson knew he was going to die. He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days. Methodically he donned his all-weather clothes, his environment suit.
Chapter 1 of The Birds of Lorrane is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
form, produce, or emit bubbles
From this reading “He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.”
lacking opportunities for development or advancement
From this reading “They knew a dead-end planet when they visited one!”
inflected form of “don” — put clothing on one's body
From this reading “Methodically he donned his all-weather clothes, his environment suit.”
the totality of surrounding conditions
From this reading “Methodically he donned his all-weather clothes, his environment suit.”
having the capacity for thought and reason especially to a high degree
From this reading “Intelligent birds!”
in a methodical manner
From this reading “Methodically he donned his all-weather clothes, his environment suit.”
(astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light
From this reading “They knew a dead-end planet when they visited one!”
past form of “visit” — go to see a place, as for entertainment
From this reading “They knew a dead-end planet when they visited one!”
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 “He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.”
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 They knew a dead-end planet when they visited one!
usable or operative or practiced in all kinds of weather
From this reading Methodically he donned his all-weather clothes, his environment suit.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading Intelligent birds!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ingomar Bjorgson knew he was going to die.
form, produce, or emit bubbles
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
clothing in general
From this reading Methodically he donned his all-weather clothes, his environment suit.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
lacking opportunities for development or advancement
From this reading They knew a dead-end planet when they visited one!
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading Ingomar Bjorgson knew he was going to die.
inflected form of “don” — put clothing on one's body
From this reading Methodically he donned his all-weather clothes, his environment suit.
the totality of surrounding conditions
From this reading Methodically he donned his all-weather clothes, his environment suit.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
the act of departing
From this reading Ingomar Bjorgson knew he was going to die.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Ingomar Bjorgson knew he was going to die.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ingomar Bjorgson knew he was going to die.
relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
having the capacity for thought and reason especially to a high degree
From this reading Intelligent birds!
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading They knew a dead-end planet when they visited one!
in a methodical manner
From this reading Methodically he donned his all-weather clothes, his environment suit.
being one less than one hundred and nine more than ninety
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading They knew a dead-end planet when they visited one!
(astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light
From this reading They knew a dead-end planet when they visited one!
transport commercially
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
be agreeable or acceptable to
From this reading Methodically he donned his all-weather clothes, his environment suit.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They knew a dead-end planet when they visited one!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Ingomar Bjorgson knew he was going to die.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
having no beneficial use or incapable of functioning usefully
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
past form of “visit” — go to see a place, as for entertainment
From this reading They knew a dead-end planet when they visited one!
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Ingomar Bjorgson knew he was going to die.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading He turned his back on his useless ship and went inside the bubble house that had been his home for ninety-nine days.
at the time that
From this reading They knew a dead-end planet when they visited one!
Chapter 1 of The Birds of Lorrane by William R. Doede holds 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 404 sentences of The Birds of Lorrane, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Birds of Lorrane by William R. Doede exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 Birds of Lorrane by William R. Doede on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 404 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50890 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50890, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 33 minutes of reading across 81 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Birds of Lorrane section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of The Birds of Lorrane 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 Birds of Lorrane, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
