Chapter 32 of The Child's Book of Nature is here in full — 200 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXII
Chapter 32 of The Child's Book of Nature is here in full — 200 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
WATER ALWAYS TRYING TO BE LEVEL. If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level. If now you stir it about, you make it uneven. Watch it as it becomes still and smooth again. There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.
Chapter 32 of The Child's Book of Nature is here in full — 200 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/40 · 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.
third-person singular of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading “Watch it as it becomes still and smooth again.”
a round vessel that is open at the top; used chiefly for holding food or liquids
From this reading “If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.”
a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality
From this reading “WATER ALWAYS TRYING TO BE LEVEL.”
plural of “particle” — (nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything
From this reading “There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.”
having a surface free from roughness or bumps or ridges or irregularities
From this reading “If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.”
move an implement through
From this reading “If now you stir it about, you make it uneven.”
make a strenuous or labored effort
From this reading “There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.”
not even or uniform as e.g. in shape or texture
From this reading “If now you stir it about, you make it uneven.”
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.
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.”
In this reading “WATER ALWAYS TRYING TO BE LEVEL.”
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 If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading If now you stir it about, you make it uneven.
anew
From this reading Watch it as it becomes still and smooth again.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading WATER ALWAYS TRYING TO BE LEVEL.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Watch it as it becomes still and smooth again.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading WATER ALWAYS TRYING TO BE LEVEL.
third-person singular of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading Watch it as it becomes still and smooth again.
a round vessel that is open at the top; used chiefly for holding food or liquids
From this reading If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading If now you stir it about, you make it uneven.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
From this reading There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.
a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality
From this reading WATER ALWAYS TRYING TO BE LEVEL.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
engage in
From this reading If now you stir it about, you make it uneven.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading If now you stir it about, you make it uneven.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.
plural of “particle” — (nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything
From this reading There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.
plural of “place” — a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
third-person singular of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.
having a surface free from roughness or bumps or ridges or irregularities
From this reading If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
not in physical motion
From this reading Watch it as it becomes still and smooth again.
move an implement through
From this reading If now you stir it about, you make it uneven.
make a strenuous or labored effort
From this reading There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.
the outer boundary of an artifact or a material layer constituting or resembling such a boundary
From this reading If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
carry out
From this reading There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There seems to be a kind of struggle as all the particles of water take their places.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading WATER ALWAYS TRYING TO BE LEVEL.
hard to endure
From this reading WATER ALWAYS TRYING TO BE LEVEL.
not even or uniform as e.g. in shape or texture
From this reading If now you stir it about, you make it uneven.
look attentively
From this reading Watch it as it becomes still and smooth again.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading WATER ALWAYS TRYING TO BE LEVEL.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading If you look at water in a bowl, you see that its surface is smooth and level.
Chapter 32 of The Child's Book of Nature by Worthington Hooker holds 200 sentences, grouped into 40 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 32 holds 200 sentences of The Child's Book of Nature, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 32 of The Child's Book of Nature by Worthington Hooker exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 200 sentences, grouped into 40 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 40 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 40 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 32 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.
