Chapter 1 of The Expendables is here in full — 450 sentences across 90 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Expendables is here in full — 450 sentences across 90 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things. Trouble was, it worked too well! "You see my problem, Professor?" Tony Carmen held his pinkly manicured, flashily ringed hands wide. I saw his problem and it was warmly embarrassing.
Chapter 1 of The Expendables is here in full — 450 sentences across 90 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/90 · 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.
hard to deal with; especially causing pain or embarrassment
From this reading “I saw his problem and it was warmly embarrassing.”
past form of “manicure” — trim carefully and neatly
From this reading “Tony Carmen held his pinkly manicured, flashily ringed hands wide.”
a state of difficulty that needs to be resolved
From this reading “"You see my problem, Professor?"”
someone who is a member of the faculty at a college or university
From this reading “"You see my problem, Professor?"”
relieve from
From this reading “It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.”
shaped like a ring
From this reading “Tony Carmen held his pinkly manicured, flashily ringed hands wide.”
being of use or service
From this reading “It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.”
in a hearty manner
From this reading “I saw his problem and it was warmly embarrassing.”
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.
do away with
In this reading “It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.”
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 was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I saw his problem and it was warmly embarrassing.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.
a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid
From this reading It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tony Carmen held his pinkly manicured, flashily ringed hands wide.
hard to deal with; especially causing pain or embarrassment
From this reading I saw his problem and it was warmly embarrassing.
in a meretricious manner
From this reading Tony Carmen held his pinkly manicured, flashily ringed hands wide.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.
the act of acquiring something
From this reading It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading Tony Carmen held his pinkly manicured, flashily ringed hands wide.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading Tony Carmen held his pinkly manicured, flashily ringed hands wide.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Tony Carmen held his pinkly manicured, flashily ringed hands wide.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I saw his problem and it was warmly embarrassing.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.
and nothing more
From this reading It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.
past form of “manicure” — trim carefully and neatly
From this reading Tony Carmen held his pinkly manicured, flashily ringed hands wide.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "You see my problem, Professor?"
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tony Carmen held his pinkly manicured, flashily ringed hands wide.
a state of difficulty that needs to be resolved
From this reading "You see my problem, Professor?"
someone who is a member of the faculty at a college or university
From this reading "You see my problem, Professor?"
relieve from
From this reading It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.
shaped like a ring
From this reading Tony Carmen held his pinkly manicured, flashily ringed hands wide.
cut with a saw
From this reading I saw his problem and it was warmly embarrassing.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading "You see my problem, Professor?"
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tony Carmen held his pinkly manicured, flashily ringed hands wide.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading Trouble was, it worked too well!
a source of difficulty
From this reading Trouble was, it worked too well!
being of use or service
From this reading It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.
in a hearty manner
From this reading I saw his problem and it was warmly embarrassing.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was just a little black box, useful for getting rid of things.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Trouble was, it worked too well!
having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
From this reading Tony Carmen held his pinkly manicured, flashily ringed hands wide.
past form of “work” — exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading Trouble was, it worked too well!
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You see my problem, Professor?"
Chapter 1 of The Expendables by Jim Harmon holds 450 sentences, grouped into 90 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 450 sentences of The Expendables, unabridged, divided into 90 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Expendables by Jim Harmon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 450 sentences, grouped into 90 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 90 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 90 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 Expendables by Jim Harmon on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 450 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #61171 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #61171, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 37 minutes of reading across 90 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Expendables section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of The Expendables 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 Expendables, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
