Chapter 2 of The Brain Sinner is here in full — 455 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Brain Sinner is here in full — 455 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar. "What's done is done," he said sourly. "You thought he was sewed up, and it turned out that he wasn't." He turned worried eyes to Faircloth. "What we've got to know is why he wasn't sewed up.
Chapter 2 of The Brain Sinner is here in full — 455 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/91 · 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 roll of tobacco for smoking
From this reading “Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.”
a piece of furniture with a writing surface and usually drawers or other compartments
From this reading “Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.”
consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds
From this reading “Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.”
United States feminist (1885-1977)
From this reading “Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.”
United States biochemist (born in England) honored for his discovery that some genes contain introns (born in 1943)
From this reading “Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.”
fastened with stitches
From this reading “"You thought he was sewed up, and it turned out that he wasn't."”
past form of “shove” — come into rough contact with while moving
From this reading “Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.”
afflicted with or marked by anxious uneasiness or trouble or grief
From this reading “He turned worried eyes to Faircloth.”
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 “Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.”
In this reading “Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.”
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 Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
a roll of tobacco for smoking
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
a piece of furniture with a writing surface and usually drawers or other compartments
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading "What's done is done," he said sourly.
take in liquids
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
opinion or judgment
From this reading He turned worried eyes to Faircloth.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He turned worried eyes to Faircloth.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "What we've got to know is why he wasn't sewed up.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "What's done is done," he said sourly.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "What we've got to know is why he wasn't sewed up.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading "You thought he was sewed up, and it turned out that he wasn't."
United States feminist (1885-1977)
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
United States biochemist (born in England) honored for his discovery that some genes contain introns (born in 1943)
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "What's done is done," he said sourly.
fastened with stitches
From this reading "You thought he was sewed up, and it turned out that he wasn't."
past form of “shove” — come into rough contact with while moving
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
in a sour manner
From this reading "What's done is done," he said sourly.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "You thought he was sewed up, and it turned out that he wasn't."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading "You thought he was sewed up, and it turned out that he wasn't."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
having come into contact
From this reading Roberts mixed a drink and shoved it across the desk to Paul; then he touched off the end of a long black cigar.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading "You thought he was sewed up, and it turned out that he wasn't."
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading "You thought he was sewed up, and it turned out that he wasn't."
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "You thought he was sewed up, and it turned out that he wasn't."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "You thought he was sewed up, and it turned out that he wasn't."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "What we've got to know is why he wasn't sewed up.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "What we've got to know is why he wasn't sewed up.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "What's done is done," he said sourly.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading "What we've got to know is why he wasn't sewed up.
afflicted with or marked by anxious uneasiness or trouble or grief
From this reading He turned worried eyes to Faircloth.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You thought he was sewed up, and it turned out that he wasn't."
Chapter 2 of The Brain Sinner by Alan Edward Nourse holds 455 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 2 holds 455 sentences of The Brain Sinner, unabridged, divided into 91 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Brain Sinner by Alan Edward Nourse exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 455 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 2 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 Brain Sinner by Alan Edward Nourse on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1382 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #63759 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #63759, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 115 minutes of reading across 277 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Brain Sinner section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of The Brain Sinner 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 Brain Sinner, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
