Chapter 4 of The Boyhood of Great Inventors is here in full — 395 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Boyhood of Great Inventors is here in full — 395 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
After this, people began to hear of Edison's fame. But the mania for experiments had seized him. The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison. It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy. To be allowed to revel in it he denied himself food and necessary sleep.
Chapter 4 of The Boyhood of Great Inventors is here in full — 395 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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.
possessive form of “edison” — United States inventor; inventions included the phonograph and incandescent electric light and the microphone and the Kinetoscope (1847-1931)
From this reading “After this, people began to hear of Edison's fame.”
Filled with or placed under the influence of magical power or charm.
From this reading “It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy.”
plural of “experiment” — the act of conducting a controlled test or investigation
From this reading “But the mania for experiments had seized him.”
something existing solely in the imagination (but often mistaken for reality)
From this reading “It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy.”
an irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action
From this reading “But the mania for experiments had seized him.”
take delight in
From this reading “To be allowed to revel in it he denied himself food and necessary sleep.”
an unvarying or habitual method or procedure
From this reading “The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison.”
lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age
From this reading “The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison.”
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 “The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison.”
In this reading “To be allowed to revel in it he denied himself food and necessary sleep.”
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.
later than; following
From this reading After this, people began to hear of Edison's fame.
past form of “allow” — make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen
From this reading To be allowed to revel in it he denied himself food and necessary sleep.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading To be allowed to revel in it he denied himself food and necessary sleep.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading After this, people began to hear of Edison's fame.
a youthful male person
From this reading It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But the mania for experiments had seized him.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison.
the act of examining resemblances
From this reading The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison.
according to ordinary expectations
From this reading The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison.
inflected form of “deny” — declare untrue; contradict
From this reading To be allowed to revel in it he denied himself food and necessary sleep.
possessive form of “edison” — United States inventor; inventions included the phonograph and incandescent electric light and the microphone and the Kinetoscope (1847-1931)
From this reading After this, people began to hear of Edison's fame.
Filled with or placed under the influence of magical power or charm.
From this reading It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy.
plural of “experiment” — the act of conducting a controlled test or investigation
From this reading But the mania for experiments had seized him.
something existing solely in the imagination (but often mistaken for reality)
From this reading It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy.
the state or quality of being widely honored and acclaimed
From this reading After this, people began to hear of Edison's fame.
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison.
any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissue
From this reading To be allowed to revel in it he denied himself food and necessary sleep.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading But the mania for experiments had seized him.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading But the mania for experiments had seized him.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading To be allowed to revel in it he denied himself food and necessary sleep.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading After this, people began to hear of Edison's fame.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading But the mania for experiments had seized him.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading To be allowed to revel in it he denied himself food and necessary sleep.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading To be allowed to revel in it he denied himself food and necessary sleep.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy.
an irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action
From this reading But the mania for experiments had seized him.
tediously repetitious or lacking in variety
From this reading The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison.
absolutely essential
From this reading To be allowed to revel in it he denied himself food and necessary sleep.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading After this, people began to hear of Edison's fame.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading After this, people began to hear of Edison's fame.
the extended spatial location of something
From this reading It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy.
take delight in
From this reading To be allowed to revel in it he denied himself food and necessary sleep.
an unvarying or habitual method or procedure
From this reading The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison.
past form of “seize” — take hold of; grab
From this reading But the mania for experiments had seized him.
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading To be allowed to revel in it he denied himself food and necessary sleep.
lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age
From this reading The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading But the mania for experiments had seized him.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading After this, people began to hear of Edison's fame.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading After this, people began to hear of Edison's fame.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was as if an enchanted region of fairyland had been opened to the boy.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading The cut-and-dried monotonous routine of work seemed flat and stale to him by comparison.
Chapter 4 of The Boyhood of Great Inventors by A. Fraser Robertson holds 395 sentences, grouped into 79 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 395 sentences of The Boyhood of Great Inventors, unabridged, divided into 79 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Boyhood of Great Inventors by A. Fraser Robertson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 395 sentences, grouped into 79 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 79 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 79 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 Boyhood of Great Inventors by A. Fraser Robertson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1643 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #38191 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #38191, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 136 minutes of reading across 329 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Boyhood of Great Inventors section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of The Boyhood of Great Inventors 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 Boyhood of Great Inventors, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
