Chapter 31 of The Child's Book of Nature is here in full — 263 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXI
Chapter 31 of The Child's Book of Nature is here in full — 263 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HEATED AIR. Balloons are sometimes, as I have told you, filled with heated air. This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up. Now observe why the heated air is lighter than the cool air. It is because the heat swells the air, or _expands_ it, as it is commonly expressed.
Chapter 31 of The Child's Book of Nature is here in full — 263 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/52 · 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.
large tough nonrigid bag filled with gas or heated air
From this reading “This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.”
plural of “balloon” — large tough nonrigid bag filled with gas or heated air
From this reading “Balloons are sometimes, as I have told you, filled with heated air.”
under normal conditions
From this reading “It is because the heat swells the air, or _expands_ it, as it is commonly expressed.”
third-person singular of “expand” — extend in one or more directions
made warm or hot (“het” is a dialectal variant of “heated”)
From this reading “HEATED AIR.”
a substance used to ignite or kindle a fire
From this reading “This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.”
plural of “rise” — a growth in strength or number or importance
From this reading “This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.”
plural of “swell” — the undulating movement of the surface of the open sea
From this reading “It is because the heat swells the air, or _expands_ it, as it is commonly expressed.”
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 “HEATED AIR.”
In this reading “This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.”
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.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading HEATED AIR.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Balloons are sometimes, as I have told you, filled with heated air.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Balloons are sometimes, as I have told you, filled with heated air.
large tough nonrigid bag filled with gas or heated air
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
plural of “balloon” — large tough nonrigid bag filled with gas or heated air
From this reading Balloons are sometimes, as I have told you, filled with heated air.
for the reason that
From this reading It is because the heat swells the air, or _expands_ it, as it is commonly expressed.
under normal conditions
From this reading It is because the heat swells the air, or _expands_ it, as it is commonly expressed.
neither warm nor very cold; giving relief from heat
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
third-person singular of “expand” — extend in one or more directions
From this reading It is because the heat swells the air, or _expands_ it, as it is commonly expressed.
communicated in words
From this reading It is because the heat swells the air, or _expands_ it, as it is commonly expressed.
(usually followed by “with” or used as a combining form) generously supplied with
From this reading Balloons are sometimes, as I have told you, filled with heated air.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Balloons are sometimes, as I have told you, filled with heated air.
a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature
From this reading It is because the heat swells the air, or _expands_ it, as it is commonly expressed.
made warm or hot (“het” is a dialectal variant of “heated”)
From this reading HEATED AIR.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Balloons are sometimes, as I have told you, filled with heated air.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
a substance used to ignite or kindle a fire
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now observe why the heated air is lighter than the cool air.
discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
From this reading Now observe why the heated air is lighter than the cool air.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
past form of “push” — move with force
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
on the contrary
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
plural of “rise” — a growth in strength or number or importance
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
on certain occasions or in certain cases but not always
From this reading Balloons are sometimes, as I have told you, filled with heated air.
plural of “swell” — the undulating movement of the surface of the open sea
From this reading It is because the heat swells the air, or _expands_ it, as it is commonly expressed.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading Balloons are sometimes, as I have told you, filled with heated air.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading This heated air is lighter than the cool air around it, and so the balloon rises, or, rather, is pushed up.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Now observe why the heated air is lighter than the cool air.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Balloons are sometimes, as I have told you, filled with heated air.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Balloons are sometimes, as I have told you, filled with heated air.
Chapter 31 of The Child's Book of Nature by Worthington Hooker holds 263 sentences, grouped into 53 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 31 holds 263 sentences of The Child's Book of Nature, unabridged, divided into 53 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 31 of The Child's Book of Nature by Worthington Hooker exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 263 sentences, grouped into 53 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 53 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 53 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 31 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.
