Chapter 1 of The Clean and Wholesome Land is here in full — 192 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Clean and Wholesome Land is here in full — 192 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_Utopia had been reached. All the problems of mankind had been solved. It was the perfect State. If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium. This, he knew, was the place to find them.
Chapter 1 of The Clean and Wholesome Land is here in full — 192 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
the area of a theater or concert hall where the audience sits
From this reading “If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.”
past form of “doubt” — consider unlikely or have doubts about
From this reading “If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.”
past form of “lecture” — deliver a lecture or talk
From this reading “If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.”
all of the living human inhabitants of the earth
From this reading “All the problems of mankind had been solved.”
plural of “problem” — a state of difficulty that needs to be resolved
From this reading “All the problems of mankind had been solved.”
a platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it
From this reading “If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.”
explained or answered
From this reading “All the problems of mankind had been solved.”
a book written by Sir Thomas More (1516) describing the perfect society on an imaginary island
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 “All the problems of mankind had been solved.”
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.
(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 All the problems of mankind had been solved.
the area of a theater or concert hall where the audience sits
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading _Utopia had been reached.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
past form of “doubt” — consider unlikely or have doubts about
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading This, he knew, was the place to find them.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading _Utopia had been reached.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading This, he knew, was the place to find them.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was the perfect State.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading This, he knew, was the place to find them.
past form of “lecture” — deliver a lecture or talk
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
all of the living human inhabitants of the earth
From this reading All the problems of mankind had been solved.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading All the problems of mankind had been solved.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish
From this reading It was the perfect State.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading This, he knew, was the place to find them.
plural of “problem” — a state of difficulty that needs to be resolved
From this reading All the problems of mankind had been solved.
someone who is a member of the faculty at a college or university
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading _Utopia had been reached.
a platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
explained or answered
From this reading All the problems of mankind had been solved.
the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation
From this reading It was the perfect State.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading All the problems of mankind had been solved.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading This, he knew, was the place to find them.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This, he knew, was the place to find them.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading This, he knew, was the place to find them.
a book written by Sir Thomas More (1516) describing the perfect society on an imaginary island
From this reading _Utopia had been reached.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was the perfect State.
during the time that
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading If you doubted it, you died._ While Professor Cargill lectured from the rostrum, Neal Pardeau prowled the dark auditorium.
Chapter 1 of The Clean and Wholesome Land by Ralph Sholto holds 192 sentences, grouped into 39 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 192 sentences of The Clean and Wholesome Land, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Clean and Wholesome Land by Ralph Sholto exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 192 sentences, grouped into 39 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 39 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 39 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 Clean and Wholesome Land by Ralph Sholto on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 192 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #30405 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #30405, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 16 minutes of reading across 39 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Clean and Wholesome Land section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of The Clean and Wholesome Land 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 Clean and Wholesome Land, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
