Chapter 1 of The City of Fire is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The City of Fire is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Well, that depends!” he said at last. “If anybody'd make it worth my while.” The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning. The keenest searching revealed nothing in the immobile face of the boy. A cunning grew in the eyes of the man.
Chapter 1 of The City of Fire is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 33/84 · 5 reading units · Lines 161–165
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.
marked by blithe unconcern
From this reading “The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.”
attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness
From this reading “A cunning grew in the eyes of the man.”
third-person singular of “depend” — be contingent upon (something that is elided)
From this reading ““Well, that depends!” he said at last.”
not capable of movement or of being moved
From this reading “The keenest searching revealed nothing in the immobile face of the boy.”
superlative of “keen” — having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
From this reading “The keenest searching revealed nothing in the immobile face of the boy.”
in a narrow manner; not allowing for exceptions
From this reading “The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.”
past form of “reveal” — make visible
From this reading “The keenest searching revealed nothing in the immobile face of the boy.”
diligent and thorough in inquiry or investigation
From this reading “The keenest searching revealed nothing in the immobile face of the boy.”
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 A cunning grew in the eyes of the man.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “If anybody'd make it worth my while.”
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading “Well, that depends!” he said at last.
a youthful male person
From this reading The keenest searching revealed nothing in the immobile face of the boy.
marked by blithe unconcern
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness
From this reading A cunning grew in the eyes of the man.
third-person singular of “depend” — be contingent upon (something that is elided)
From this reading “Well, that depends!” he said at last.
opinion or judgment
From this reading A cunning grew in the eyes of the man.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading The keenest searching revealed nothing in the immobile face of the boy.
containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading A cunning grew in the eyes of the man.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Well, that depends!” he said at last.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading “If anybody'd make it worth my while.”
not capable of movement or of being moved
From this reading The keenest searching revealed nothing in the immobile face of the boy.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The keenest searching revealed nothing in the immobile face of the boy.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “If anybody'd make it worth my while.”
superlative of “keen” — having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
From this reading The keenest searching revealed nothing in the immobile face of the boy.
immediately past
From this reading “Well, that depends!” he said at last.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
engage in
From this reading “If anybody'd make it worth my while.”
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
the message that is intended or expressed or signified
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “If anybody'd make it worth my while.”
in a narrow manner; not allowing for exceptions
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading The keenest searching revealed nothing in the immobile face of the boy.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
on one occasion
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
capable of happening or existing
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
past form of “reveal” — make visible
From this reading The keenest searching revealed nothing in the immobile face of the boy.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Well, that depends!” he said at last.
diligent and thorough in inquiry or investigation
From this reading The keenest searching revealed nothing in the immobile face of the boy.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Well, that depends!” he said at last.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
the quality of a person's voice
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading “Well, that depends!” he said at last.
during the time that
From this reading “If anybody'd make it worth my while.”
an indefinite quantity of something having a specified value
From this reading “If anybody'd make it worth my while.”
but in spite of that
From this reading The man looked at him narrowly, the tone was at once so casual and yet so full of possible meaning.
Chapter 1 of The City of Fire by Grace Livingston Hill holds 423 sentences, grouped into 85 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 1 holds 423 sentences of The City of Fire, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The City of Fire by Grace Livingston Hill exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 423 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 City of Fire by Grace Livingston Hill on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6645 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #7008 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #7008, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 553 minutes of reading across 1329 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The City of Fire section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of The City of Fire 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 City of Fire, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
