Chapter 1 of The Cosmic Bluff is here in full — 609 sentences across 122 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Cosmic Bluff is here in full — 609 sentences across 122 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena. It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own! To everyone in the Solar System I was a big shot, understand? Everyone but two--the two that counted most. One of the two was Suzi, and the other was me.
Chapter 1 of The Cosmic Bluff is here in full — 609 sentences across 122 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/121 · 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 particular environment or walk of life
From this reading “As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.”
a high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion)
From this reading “It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own!”
past form of “challenge” — take exception to
From this reading “As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.”
someone who has won first place in a competition
From this reading “As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.”
a prearranged fight with deadly weapons by two people (accompanied by seconds) in order to settle a quarrel over a point of honor
From this reading “As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.”
possessive form of “earth” — the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading “As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.”
plural of “invader” — someone who enters by force in order to conquer
From this reading “As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.”
relating to or derived from the sun or utilizing the energies of the sun
From this reading “To everyone in the Solar System I was a big shot, understand?”
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.
the sun with the celestial bodies that revolve around it in its gravitational field
In this reading “To everyone in the Solar System I was a big shot, understand?”
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 As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading One of the two was Suzi, and the other was me.
a particular environment or walk of life
From this reading As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading To everyone in the Solar System I was a big shot, understand?
a high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion)
From this reading It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own!
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own!
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own!
past form of “challenge” — take exception to
From this reading As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.
someone who has won first place in a competition
From this reading As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.
past form of “count” — determine the number or amount of
From this reading Everyone but two--the two that counted most.
a prearranged fight with deadly weapons by two people (accompanied by seconds) in order to settle a quarrel over a point of honor
From this reading As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.
possessive form of “earth” — the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.
every person
From this reading To everyone in the Solar System I was a big shot, understand?
of behavior that is impressive and ambitious in scale or scope
From this reading It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own!
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading To everyone in the Solar System I was a big shot, understand?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.
plural of “invader” — someone who enters by force in order to conquer
From this reading As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own!
immense East Indian fruit resembling breadfruit; it contains an edible pulp and nutritious seeds that are commonly roasted
From this reading As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading One of the two was Suzi, and the other was me.
used to form the superlative
From this reading Everyone but two--the two that counted most.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own!
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own!
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading One of the two was Suzi, and the other was me.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own!
the act of firing a projectile
From this reading To everyone in the Solar System I was a big shot, understand?
relating to or derived from the sun or utilizing the energies of the sun
From this reading To everyone in the Solar System I was a big shot, understand?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading One of the two was Suzi, and the other was me.
instrumentality that combines interrelated interacting artifacts designed to work as a coherent entity
From this reading To everyone in the Solar System I was a big shot, understand?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Everyone but two--the two that counted most.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own!
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading As Earth's Champion, Jak had challenged the Invaders to a duel in the Arena.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Everyone but two--the two that counted most.
know and comprehend the nature or meaning of
From this reading To everyone in the Solar System I was a big shot, understand?
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own!
in the company of; together with
From this reading It was a grand bluff, but they called it--with one of their own!
Chapter 1 of The Cosmic Bluff by Mack Reynolds holds 609 sentences, grouped into 122 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 609 sentences of The Cosmic Bluff, unabridged, divided into 122 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Cosmic Bluff by Mack Reynolds exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 609 sentences, grouped into 122 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 122 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 122 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 Cosmic Bluff by Mack Reynolds on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 609 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #65938 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #65938, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 50 minutes of reading across 122 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Cosmic Bluff section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of The Cosmic Bluff 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 Cosmic Bluff, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
