Chapter 4 of The Dreadnought of the Air is here in full — 81 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Dreadnought of the Air is here in full — 81 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE MYSTERIOUS AIRSHIP. ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans. Having once taken the plunge he was not a fellow to repine. His thoughts were of the future and not of the past. "In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can.
Chapter 4 of The Dreadnought of the Air is here in full — 81 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/16 · 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 steerable self-propelled aircraft
From this reading “THE MYSTERIOUS AIRSHIP.”
any of several Old World tropical aromatic annual or perennial herbs of the genus Ocimum
From this reading “ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.”
toward home
From this reading “ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.”
free from external control and constraint
From this reading “"In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can.”
plural of “opportunity” — a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances
From this reading “ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.”
thrust or throw into
From this reading “Having once taken the plunge he was not a fellow to repine.”
deeply or seriously thoughtful
From this reading “ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.”
an act of traveling by water
From this reading “ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.”
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 “"In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can.”
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 Having once taken the plunge he was not a fellow to repine.
a steerable self-propelled aircraft
From this reading THE MYSTERIOUS AIRSHIP.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading His thoughts were of the future and not of the past.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading "In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading "In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can.
any of several Old World tropical aromatic annual or perennial herbs of the genus Ocimum
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading "In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can.
an occurrence of something
From this reading "In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
a boy or man
From this reading Having once taken the plunge he was not a fellow to repine.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
yet to be or coming
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading Having once taken the plunge he was not a fellow to repine.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Having once taken the plunge he was not a fellow to repine.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
toward home
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can.
free from external control and constraint
From this reading "In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can.
of an obscure nature
From this reading THE MYSTERIOUS AIRSHIP.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Having once taken the plunge he was not a fellow to repine.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
on one occasion
From this reading Having once taken the plunge he was not a fellow to repine.
plural of “opportunity” — a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
above and across; more than
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading His thoughts were of the future and not of the past.
plural of “plan” — a series of steps to be carried out or goals to be accomplished
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
a full supply
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
thrust or throw into
From this reading Having once taken the plunge he was not a fellow to repine.
deeply or seriously thoughtful
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
express discontent
From this reading Having once taken the plunge he was not a fellow to repine.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading Having once taken the plunge he was not a fellow to repine.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE MYSTERIOUS AIRSHIP.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading "In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can.
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading His thoughts were of the future and not of the past.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Having once taken the plunge he was not a fellow to repine.
an act of traveling by water
From this reading ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for pondering over his future plans.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Having once taken the plunge he was not a fellow to repine.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading His thoughts were of the future and not of the past.
Chapter 4 of The Dreadnought of the Air by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman holds 81 sentences, grouped into 17 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 81 sentences of The Dreadnought of the Air, unabridged, divided into 17 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Dreadnought of the Air by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 81 sentences, grouped into 17 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 17 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 17 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 Dreadnought of the Air by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5673 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #46117 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #46117, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 472 minutes of reading across 1135 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Dreadnought of the Air section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of The Dreadnought of the Air 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 Dreadnought of the Air, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
