Chapter 5 of The Fire People is here in full — 171 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Fire People is here in full — 171 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CAPTURED! When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me. It was still night. The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it. I sat up.
Chapter 5 of The Fire People is here in full — 171 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 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.
an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets
From this reading “The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.”
past form of “capture” — succeed in representing or expressing something intangible
From this reading “CAPTURED!”
an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation
From this reading “When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.”
a dealer in textiles (especially silks)
From this reading “When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.”
freed from illness or injury
From this reading “When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.”
a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
From this reading “When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.”
in a confused mass
From this reading “The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.”
the remaining parts of something that has been wrecked
From this reading “The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.”
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.
an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets
From this reading The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.
next to; at the side of
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.
past form of “capture” — succeed in representing or expressing something intangible
From this reading CAPTURED!
inflected form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.
an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
unmistakably (“plain” is often used informally for “plainly”)
From this reading The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.
set up or found
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was still night.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.
the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
a dealer in textiles (especially silks)
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
near in time or place or relationship
From this reading The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading It was still night.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.
freed from illness or injury
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading I sat up.
(photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait)
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
not in physical motion
From this reading It was still night.
in a confused mass
From this reading The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading I sat up.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was still night.
at the time that
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
in the company of; together with
From this reading When I recovered consciousness I found myself lying in the sand with Mercer sitting beside me.
the remaining parts of something that has been wrecked
From this reading The tangled wreckage of our airplane lay near by; evidently Mercer had carried me out of it.
Chapter 5 of The Fire People by Ray Cummings holds 171 sentences, grouped into 35 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 5 holds 171 sentences of The Fire People, unabridged, divided into 35 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Fire People by Ray Cummings exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 171 sentences, grouped into 35 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 35 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 35 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 5 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 Fire People by Ray Cummings on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4561 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #25780 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #25780, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 380 minutes of reading across 913 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Fire People section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of The Fire People 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 Fire People, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
