Chapter 3 of The Burning Spear is here in full — 184 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Burning Spear is here in full — 184 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses. “My first task, however, will be to collect them.” “Can you tell me,” he said to a dustman, “where the market-place is?” “Ain't none.” “The Town Hall, then?”
Chapter 3 of The Burning Spear is here in full — 184 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/36 · 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.
the event of one object coming closer to another
From this reading ““'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.”
get or gather together
From this reading ““My first task, however, will be to collect them.””
someone employed to collect and dispose of refuse
From this reading ““Can you tell me,” he said to a dustman, “where the market-place is?””
perennial plants having thick branching aromatic rhizomes and leafy reedlike stems
From this reading ““'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.”
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading ““The Town Hall, then?””
plural of “house” — a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading ““'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.”
of a pale purple color
From this reading ““'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.”
any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted
From this reading ““My first task, however, will be to collect them.””
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 “Can you tell me,” he said to a dustman, “where the market-place is?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Ain't none.”
the event of one object coming closer to another
From this reading “'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “My first task, however, will be to collect them.”
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading “Can you tell me,” he said to a dustman, “where the market-place is?”
get or gather together
From this reading “My first task, however, will be to collect them.”
someone employed to collect and dispose of refuse
From this reading “Can you tell me,” he said to a dustman, “where the market-place is?”
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading “'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.
perennial plants having thick branching aromatic rhizomes and leafy reedlike stems
From this reading “'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading “'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading “The Town Hall, then?”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Can you tell me,” he said to a dustman, “where the market-place is?”
plural of “house” — a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading “'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.
used to add a contrasting statement
From this reading “My first task, however, will be to collect them.”
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Can you tell me,” he said to a dustman, “where the market-place is?”
of a pale purple color
From this reading “'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Can you tell me,” he said to a dustman, “where the market-place is?”
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Can you tell me,” he said to a dustman, “where the market-place is?”
a form of address for a man
From this reading “'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “My first task, however, will be to collect them.”
not one, and not any
From this reading “Ain't none.”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Can you tell me,” he said to a dustman, “where the market-place is?”
any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted
From this reading “My first task, however, will be to collect them.”
express in words
From this reading “Can you tell me,” he said to a dustman, “where the market-place is?”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading “'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading “The Town Hall, then?”
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading “'Give them ginger!'” thought Mr. Lavender, approaching the first houses.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “My first task, however, will be to collect them.”
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading “The Town Hall, then?”
in or at the place that
From this reading “Can you tell me,” he said to a dustman, “where the market-place is?”
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading “My first task, however, will be to collect them.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Can you tell me,” he said to a dustman, “where the market-place is?”
Chapter 3 of The Burning Spear by John Galsworthy holds 184 sentences, grouped into 37 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 3 holds 184 sentences of The Burning Spear, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Burning Spear by John Galsworthy exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 184 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 3 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 Burning Spear by John Galsworthy on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2838 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2905 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2905, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 236 minutes of reading across 568 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Burning Spear section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of The Burning Spear 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 Burning Spear, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
