Chapter 1 of The Great Gray Plague is here in full — 435 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Great Gray Plague is here in full — 435 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog. It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape. Dr. William Baker was fifty and didn't mind it a bit. Fifty was a tremendously satisfying age. With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
Chapter 1 of The Great Gray Plague is here in full — 435 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/87 · 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.
someone who bakes commercially
From this reading “Dr. William Baker was fifty and didn't mind it a bit.”
Strictly particular and correct.
From this reading “With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.”
droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
From this reading “There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.”
vague or not clearly defined or stated
From this reading “It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape.”
being present everywhere at once
From this reading “It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape.”
providing abundant nourishment
From this reading “Fifty was a tremendously satisfying age.”
high level of respect gained by impressive development or achievement
From this reading “With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.”
extremely
From this reading “Fifty was a tremendously satisfying age.”
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 There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.
how long something has existed
From this reading Fifty was a tremendously satisfying age.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.
someone who bakes commercially
From this reading Dr. William Baker was fifty and didn't mind it a bit.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
a small piece or quantity of something
From this reading Dr. William Baker was fifty and didn't mind it a bit.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dr. William Baker was fifty and didn't mind it a bit.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dr. William Baker was fifty and didn't mind it a bit.
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.
an opposing military force
From this reading There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape.
the act of escaping physically
From this reading It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape.
Strictly particular and correct.
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
the cardinal number that is the product of ten and five
From this reading Dr. William Baker was fifty and didn't mind it a bit.
be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight
From this reading There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.
droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
From this reading There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.
a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
From this reading There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
vague or not clearly defined or stated
From this reading It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Dr. William Baker was fifty and didn't mind it a bit.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape.
cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading Dr. William Baker was fifty and didn't mind it a bit.
not any; not one
From this reading There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape.
the property possessed by a sum or total or indefinite quantity of units or individuals
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
being present everywhere at once
From this reading It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
providing abundant nourishment
From this reading Fifty was a tremendously satisfying age.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.
characterized by good substantial quality
From this reading It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape.
high level of respect gained by impressive development or achievement
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading There is no enemy so hard to fight as a dull gray fog.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading It's not solid enough to beat, too indefinite to kill, and too omnipresent to escape.
extremely
From this reading Fifty was a tremendously satisfying age.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Dr. William Baker was fifty and didn't mind it a bit.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dr. William Baker was fifty and didn't mind it a bit.
in the company of; together with
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
a late time of life
From this reading With that exact number of years behind him a man had stature that could be had in no other way.
Chapter 1 of The Great Gray Plague by Raymond F. Jones holds 435 sentences, grouped into 87 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 435 sentences of The Great Gray Plague, unabridged, divided into 87 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Great Gray Plague by Raymond F. Jones exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 435 sentences, grouped into 87 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 87 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 87 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 Great Gray Plague by Raymond F. Jones on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2180 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #28118 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #28118, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 181 minutes of reading across 436 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Great Gray Plague section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of The Great Gray Plague 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 Great Gray Plague, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
