Chapter 4 of The Crack of Doom is here in full — 129 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Crack of Doom is here in full — 129 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
GEORGE DELANY--DECEASED. "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids. Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?" "For all; for everything that is alive." "Faugh!
Chapter 4 of The Crack of Doom is here in full — 129 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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.
possessing life
From this reading “"It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.”
someone who is no longer alive
From this reading “GEORGE DELANY--DECEASED.”
plural of “eyelid” — either of two folds of skin that can be moved to cover or open the eye
From this reading “"It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.”
-ing form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading “"It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.”
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading “GEORGE DELANY--DECEASED.”
recurring again and again
From this reading “"It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.”
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading “"It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.”
the act of changing or reversing the direction of the course
From this reading “Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"”
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 “"It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.”
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 "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
possessing life
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
(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 "For all; for everything that is alive."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
someone who is no longer alive
From this reading GEORGE DELANY--DECEASED.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading GEORGE DELANY--DECEASED.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading "For all; for everything that is alive."
plural of “eyelid” — either of two folds of skin that can be moved to cover or open the eye
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Faugh!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"
containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
From this reading Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"
-ing form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading GEORGE DELANY--DECEASED.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
recurring again and again
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "For all; for everything that is alive."
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"
a special situation
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
the act of changing or reversing the direction of the course
From this reading Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "It is a good thing to be alive," Natalie Brande repeated slowly, gazing, as it were, far off through her half-closed eyelids.
exhibiting childlike simplicity and credulity
From this reading Then turning to me and looking at me full, wide-eyed, she asked: "A good thing for how many?"
Chapter 4 of The Crack of Doom by Robert Cromie holds 129 sentences, grouped into 26 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 4 holds 129 sentences of The Crack of Doom, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Crack of Doom by Robert Cromie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 129 sentences, grouped into 26 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 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 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 4 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 Crack of Doom by Robert Cromie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3212 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26563 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26563, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 267 minutes of reading across 643 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Crack of Doom section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Crack of Doom 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 Crack of Doom, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
