Chapter 1 of The Circus Boys on the Mississippi is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Circus Boys on the Mississippi is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Have you had any trouble with Diaz, Teddy?" "Who's he?" "The new Spanish clown." Teddy Tucker's face grew serious. "What about him, Phil?"
Chapter 1 of The Circus Boys on the Mississippi is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 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.
a rude or vulgar fool
From this reading “"The new Spanish clown."”
Portuguese explorer who in 1488 was the first European to get round the Cape of Good Hope (thus establishing a sea route from the Atlantic to Asia) (1450-1500)
From this reading “"Have you had any trouble with Diaz, Teddy?"”
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading “Teddy Tucker's face grew serious.”
concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities
From this reading “Teddy Tucker's face grew serious.”
the Romance language spoken in most of Spain and the countries colonized by Spain
From this reading “"The new Spanish clown."”
plaything consisting of a child's toy bear (usually plush and stuffed with soft materials)
From this reading “"Have you had any trouble with Diaz, Teddy?"”
a source of difficulty
From this reading “"Have you had any trouble with Diaz, Teddy?"”
possessive form of “tucker” — United States anarchist influential before World War I (1854-1939)
From this reading “Teddy Tucker's face grew serious.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading "What about him, Phil?"
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading "Have you had any trouble with Diaz, Teddy?"
a rude or vulgar fool
From this reading "The new Spanish clown."
Portuguese explorer who in 1488 was the first European to get round the Cape of Good Hope (thus establishing a sea route from the Atlantic to Asia) (1450-1500)
From this reading "Have you had any trouble with Diaz, Teddy?"
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Teddy Tucker's face grew serious.
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading Teddy Tucker's face grew serious.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "Have you had any trouble with Diaz, Teddy?"
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "Have you had any trouble with Diaz, Teddy?"
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Who's he?"
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "What about him, Phil?"
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading "The new Spanish clown."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "What about him, Phil?"
concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities
From this reading Teddy Tucker's face grew serious.
the Romance language spoken in most of Spain and the countries colonized by Spain
From this reading "The new Spanish clown."
plaything consisting of a child's toy bear (usually plush and stuffed with soft materials)
From this reading "Have you had any trouble with Diaz, Teddy?"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "The new Spanish clown."
a source of difficulty
From this reading "Have you had any trouble with Diaz, Teddy?"
possessive form of “tucker” — United States anarchist influential before World War I (1854-1939)
From this reading Teddy Tucker's face grew serious.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "What about him, Phil?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Who's he?"
in the company of; together with
From this reading "Have you had any trouble with Diaz, Teddy?"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Have you had any trouble with Diaz, Teddy?"
Chapter 1 of The Circus Boys on the Mississippi by Edgar B. P. Darlington holds 204 sentences, grouped into 41 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 1 holds 204 sentences of The Circus Boys on the Mississippi, unabridged, divided into 41 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Circus Boys on the Mississippi by Edgar B. P. Darlington exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 204 sentences, grouped into 41 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 41 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 41 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 1 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 Circus Boys on the Mississippi by Edgar B. P. Darlington on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3894 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2477 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2477, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 324 minutes of reading across 779 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Circus Boys on the Mississippi section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Circus Boys on the Mississippi 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 Circus Boys on the Mississippi, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
