Chapter 2 of The First Man is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The First Man is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DICK--[With gay mockery.] Well, the gang's all here. Looks like the League of Nations. [Then with impatience.] Let's get down to cases, folks. I want to know why I've been summoned here. I'm due for tournament mixed-doubles at the Casino at five.
Chapter 2 of The First Man is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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 public building for gambling and entertainment
From this reading “I'm due for tournament mixed-doubles at the Casino at five.”
possessive form of “gang” — an association of criminals
From this reading “DICK--[With gay mockery.] Well, the gang's all here.”
a lack of patience; irritation with anything that causes delay
From this reading “[Then with impatience.] Let's get down to cases, folks.”
an association of sports teams that organizes matches for its members
From this reading “Looks like the League of Nations.”
showing your contempt by derision
From this reading “DICK--[With gay mockery.] Well, the gang's all here.”
plural of “nation” — a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading “Looks like the League of Nations.”
past form of “summon” — call in an official matter, such as to attend court
From this reading “I want to know why I've been summoned here.”
a sporting competition in which contestants play a series of games to decide the winner
From this reading “I'm due for tournament mixed-doubles at the Casino at five.”
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.
(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 DICK--[With gay mockery.] Well, the gang's all here.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading I'm due for tournament mixed-doubles at the Casino at five.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading I want to know why I've been summoned here.
plural of “case” — an occurrence of something
From this reading [Then with impatience.] Let's get down to cases, folks.
a public building for gambling and entertainment
From this reading I'm due for tournament mixed-doubles at the Casino at five.
someone who is a detective
From this reading DICK--[With gay mockery.] Well, the gang's all here.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading [Then with impatience.] Let's get down to cases, folks.
owed and payable immediately or on demand
From this reading I'm due for tournament mixed-doubles at the Casino at five.
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading I'm due for tournament mixed-doubles at the Casino at five.
your parents
From this reading [Then with impatience.] Let's get down to cases, folks.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading I'm due for tournament mixed-doubles at the Casino at five.
possessive form of “gang” — an association of criminals
From this reading DICK--[With gay mockery.] Well, the gang's all here.
bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer
From this reading DICK--[With gay mockery.] Well, the gang's all here.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading [Then with impatience.] Let's get down to cases, folks.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading DICK--[With gay mockery.] Well, the gang's all here.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I want to know why I've been summoned here.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I'm due for tournament mixed-doubles at the Casino at five.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I want to know why I've been summoned here.
a lack of patience; irritation with anything that causes delay
From this reading [Then with impatience.] Let's get down to cases, folks.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading I want to know why I've been summoned here.
an association of sports teams that organizes matches for its members
From this reading Looks like the League of Nations.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [Then with impatience.] Let's get down to cases, folks.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Looks like the League of Nations.
plural of “look” — the feelings expressed on a person's face
From this reading Looks like the League of Nations.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I'm due for tournament mixed-doubles at the Casino at five.
showing your contempt by derision
From this reading DICK--[With gay mockery.] Well, the gang's all here.
plural of “nation” — a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading Looks like the League of Nations.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Looks like the League of Nations.
past form of “summon” — call in an official matter, such as to attend court
From this reading I want to know why I've been summoned here.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading DICK--[With gay mockery.] Well, the gang's all here.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading [Then with impatience.] Let's get down to cases, folks.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading [Then with impatience.] Let's get down to cases, folks.
a sporting competition in which contestants play a series of games to decide the winner
From this reading I'm due for tournament mixed-doubles at the Casino at five.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading I want to know why I've been summoned here.
(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 DICK--[With gay mockery.] Well, the gang's all here.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading I want to know why I've been summoned here.
in the company of; together with
From this reading DICK--[With gay mockery.] Well, the gang's all here.
Chapter 2 of The First Man by Eugene O'Neill holds 410 sentences, grouped into 82 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 2 holds 410 sentences of The First Man, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The First Man by Eugene O'Neill exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 410 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 2 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 First Man by Eugene O'Neill on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2032 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4026 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4026, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 169 minutes of reading across 407 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The First Man section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of The First Man 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 First Man, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
