Chapter 1 of The Crime and the Criminal is here in full — 521 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Crime and the Criminal is here in full — 521 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE OPEN DOOR. I ran down to Brighton for the Sunday. My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers. The wife and I were both to have gone. But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
Chapter 1 of The Crime and the Criminal is here in full — 521 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/104 · 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 city in East Sussex in southern England that is a popular resort; site of the University of Sussex
From this reading “I ran down to Brighton for the Sunday.”
plural of “cooper” — United States industrialist who built the first American locomotive; founded Cooper Union in New York City to offer free courses in the arts and sciences (1791-1883)
From this reading “My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers.”
marked by intense agitation or emotion
From this reading “But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.”
incomplete skeleton of female found in eastern Ethiopia in 1974
From this reading “But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.”
try to cure by special care of treatment, of an illness or injury
From this reading “But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.”
beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
From this reading “But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.”
fastener consisting of a narrow strip of welded metal used to join steel members
From this reading “My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers.”
possessive form of “wife” — a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading “My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers.”
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 policy of granting equal trade opportunities to all countries
In this reading “THE OPEN DOOR.”
trace
In this reading “I ran down to Brighton for the Sunday.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The wife and I were both to have gone.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers.
the two together, not just one
From this reading The wife and I were both to have gone.
a city in East Sussex in southern England that is a popular resort; site of the University of Sussex
From this reading I ran down to Brighton for the Sunday.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
plural of “cooper” — United States industrialist who built the first American locomotive; founded Cooper Union in New York City to offer free courses in the arts and sciences (1791-1883)
From this reading My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers.
the child of your aunt or uncle
From this reading My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading THE OPEN DOOR.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading I ran down to Brighton for the Sunday.
marked by intense agitation or emotion
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading I ran down to Brighton for the Sunday.
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 My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers.
destroyed or killed
From this reading The wife and I were both to have gone.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading The wife and I were both to have gone.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I ran down to Brighton for the Sunday.
go away from a place
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
incomplete skeleton of female found in eastern Ethiopia in 1974
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
try to cure by special care of treatment, of an illness or injury
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading THE OPEN DOOR.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading I ran down to Brighton for the Sunday.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
fastener consisting of a narrow strip of welded metal used to join steel members
From this reading My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers.
first day of the week; observed as a day of rest and worship by most Christians
From this reading I ran down to Brighton for the Sunday.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE OPEN DOOR.
in or at that place or location
From this reading My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I ran down to Brighton for the Sunday.
precisely as stated
From this reading But our little Minna was very queer--feverish cold, or something--and Lucy did not like to leave her with the nurse.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The wife and I were both to have gone.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading The wife and I were both to have gone.
possessive form of “wife” — a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers.
in the company of; together with
From this reading My wife's cousin, George Baxendale, was stopping there, with the Coopers.
Chapter 1 of The Crime and the Criminal by Richard Marsh holds 521 sentences, grouped into 105 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 521 sentences of The Crime and the Criminal, unabridged, divided into 105 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Crime and the Criminal by Richard Marsh exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 521 sentences, grouped into 105 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 105 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 105 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 Crime and the Criminal by Richard Marsh on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9530 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40348 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40348, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1906 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Crime and the Criminal section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Crime and the Criminal 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 Crime and the Criminal, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
