Chapter 1 of The Blue Venus is here in full — 451 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Blue Venus is here in full — 451 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The planter swung again wildly. Cosmo slipped the blow. With a straight left, he knocked Bemmelman down. The planter shook his head. There was a surprised look on his beefy red features.
Chapter 1 of The Blue Venus is here in full — 451 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/90 · 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.
muscular and heavily built
From this reading “There was a surprised look on his beefy red features.”
exhale hard
From this reading “Cosmo slipped the blow.”
plural of “feature” — a prominent attribute or aspect of something
From this reading “There was a surprised look on his beefy red features.”
past form of “knock” — deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading “With a straight left, he knocked Bemmelman down.”
the owner or manager of a plantation
From this reading “The planter swung again wildly.”
inflected form of “slip” — move stealthily
From this reading “Cosmo slipped the blow.”
inflected form of “swing” — move in a curve or arc, usually with the intent of hitting
From this reading “The planter swung again wildly.”
to an extreme or greatly exaggerated degree
From this reading “The planter swung again wildly.”
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.
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 With a straight left, he knocked Bemmelman down.
anew
From this reading The planter swung again wildly.
muscular and heavily built
From this reading There was a surprised look on his beefy red features.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With a straight left, he knocked Bemmelman down.
exhale hard
From this reading Cosmo slipped the blow.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cosmo slipped the blow.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading With a straight left, he knocked Bemmelman down.
plural of “feature” — a prominent attribute or aspect of something
From this reading There was a surprised look on his beefy red features.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading With a straight left, he knocked Bemmelman down.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading The planter shook his head.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The planter shook his head.
past form of “knock” — deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading With a straight left, he knocked Bemmelman down.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading With a straight left, he knocked Bemmelman down.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading There was a surprised look on his beefy red features.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading There was a surprised look on his beefy red features.
the owner or manager of a plantation
From this reading The planter swung again wildly.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading There was a surprised look on his beefy red features.
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading The planter shook his head.
inflected form of “slip” — move stealthily
From this reading Cosmo slipped the blow.
successive (without a break)
From this reading With a straight left, he knocked Bemmelman down.
taken unawares or suddenly and feeling wonder or astonishment
From this reading There was a surprised look on his beefy red features.
inflected form of “swing” — move in a curve or arc, usually with the intent of hitting
From this reading The planter swung again wildly.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The planter swung again wildly.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was a surprised look on his beefy red features.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was a surprised look on his beefy red features.
to an extreme or greatly exaggerated degree
From this reading The planter swung again wildly.
in the company of; together with
From this reading With a straight left, he knocked Bemmelman down.
Chapter 1 of The Blue Venus by Robert Emmett McDowell holds 451 sentences, grouped into 91 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 451 sentences of The Blue Venus, unabridged, divided into 91 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Blue Venus by Robert Emmett McDowell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 451 sentences, grouped into 91 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 91 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 91 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 Blue Venus by Robert Emmett McDowell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1362 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #63779 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #63779, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 113 minutes of reading across 273 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Blue Venus section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of The Blue Venus 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 Blue Venus, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
