Chapter 18 of The Child's Book of Nature is here in full — 225 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of The Child's Book of Nature is here in full — 225 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HOW THE EYE IS GUARDED. [Sidenote: The eye seldom hurt.] The eye, you know, is a very tender organ. It is therefore guarded thoroughly, and it is really very seldom hurt. But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
Chapter 18 of The Child's Book of Nature is here in full — 225 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/45 · 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.
prudent
From this reading “HOW THE EYE IS GUARDED.”
be the source of pain
From this reading “[Sidenote: The eye seldom hurt.]”
has a good chance of being the case or of coming about
From this reading “But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.”
an announcement containing information about an event
From this reading “But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.”
a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function
From this reading “The eye, you know, is a very tender organ.”
not often
From this reading “[Sidenote: The eye seldom hurt.]”
given to sympathy or gentleness or sentimentality
From this reading “The eye, you know, is a very tender organ.”
in an exhaustive manner
From this reading “It is therefore guarded thoroughly, and it is really very seldom hurt.”
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 “It is therefore guarded thoroughly, and it is really very seldom hurt.”
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 The eye, you know, is a very tender organ.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It is therefore guarded thoroughly, and it is really very seldom hurt.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
the organ of sight
From this reading HOW THE EYE IS GUARDED.
prudent
From this reading HOW THE EYE IS GUARDED.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading HOW THE EYE IS GUARDED.
be the source of pain
From this reading [Sidenote: The eye seldom hurt.]
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading HOW THE EYE IS GUARDED.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is therefore guarded thoroughly, and it is really very seldom hurt.
and nothing more
From this reading But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading The eye, you know, is a very tender organ.
has a good chance of being the case or of coming about
From this reading But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
an announcement containing information about an event
From this reading But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function
From this reading The eye, you know, is a very tender organ.
in accordance with truth or fact or reality
From this reading It is therefore guarded thoroughly, and it is really very seldom hurt.
not often
From this reading [Sidenote: The eye seldom hurt.]
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [Sidenote: The eye seldom hurt.]
given to sympathy or gentleness or sentimentality
From this reading The eye, you know, is a very tender organ.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading HOW THE EYE IS GUARDED.
for that reason; as a result
From this reading It is therefore guarded thoroughly, and it is really very seldom hurt.
in an exhaustive manner
From this reading It is therefore guarded thoroughly, and it is really very seldom hurt.
(used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result
From this reading But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
precisely as stated
From this reading The eye, you know, is a very tender organ.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
in or at the place that
From this reading But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading But notice that it is just where it would be likely to be hurt if it were not thus guarded.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading The eye, you know, is a very tender organ.
Chapter 18 of The Child's Book of Nature by Worthington Hooker holds 225 sentences, grouped into 45 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 18 holds 225 sentences of The Child's Book of Nature, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of The Child's Book of Nature by Worthington Hooker exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 225 sentences, grouped into 45 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 45 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 45 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 18 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 Child's Book of Nature by Worthington Hooker on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8841 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #58421 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #58421, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1769 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Child's Book of Nature section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 38 chapters of The Child's Book of Nature 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 Child's Book of Nature, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
