Chapter 1 of The Great Green Blight is here in full — 470 sentences across 94 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 Green Blight is here in full — 470 sentences across 94 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Jennifer shook her head. "I never saw anything like it before. It isn't heavy enough for a space suit. What do you suppose it could be?" Norman shrugged, put it back on the rack.
Chapter 1 of The Great Green Blight is here in full — 470 sentences across 94 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/94 · 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.
of comparatively great physical weight or density
From this reading “It isn't heavy enough for a space suit.”
United States operatic soprano (born in 1945)
From this reading “Norman shrugged, put it back on the rack.”
go at a rack
From this reading “Norman shrugged, put it back on the rack.”
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading “Jennifer shook her head.”
inflected form of “shrug” — raise one's shoulders to indicate indifference or resignation
From this reading “Norman shrugged, put it back on the rack.”
the unlimited expanse in which everything is located
From this reading “It isn't heavy enough for a space suit.”
be agreeable or acceptable to
From this reading “It isn't heavy enough for a space suit.”
express a supposition
From this reading “What do you suppose it could be?"”
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 “It isn't heavy enough for a space suit.”
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 isn't heavy enough for a space suit.
any thing at all
From this reading "I never saw anything like it before.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Norman shrugged, put it back on the rack.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading What do you suppose it could be?"
earlier than; in front of
From this reading "I never saw anything like it before.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading What do you suppose it could be?"
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading What do you suppose it could be?"
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading It isn't heavy enough for a space suit.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading It isn't heavy enough for a space suit.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Jennifer shook her head.
of comparatively great physical weight or density
From this reading It isn't heavy enough for a space suit.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Jennifer shook her head.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I never saw anything like it before.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It isn't heavy enough for a space suit.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "I never saw anything like it before.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Jennifer shook her head.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading "I never saw anything like it before.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading "I never saw anything like it before.
United States operatic soprano (born in 1945)
From this reading Norman shrugged, put it back on the rack.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Norman shrugged, put it back on the rack.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Norman shrugged, put it back on the rack.
go at a rack
From this reading Norman shrugged, put it back on the rack.
cut with a saw
From this reading "I never saw anything like it before.
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading Jennifer shook her head.
inflected form of “shrug” — raise one's shoulders to indicate indifference or resignation
From this reading Norman shrugged, put it back on the rack.
the unlimited expanse in which everything is located
From this reading It isn't heavy enough for a space suit.
be agreeable or acceptable to
From this reading It isn't heavy enough for a space suit.
express a supposition
From this reading What do you suppose it could be?"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Norman shrugged, put it back on the rack.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What do you suppose it could be?"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading What do you suppose it could be?"
Chapter 1 of The Great Green Blight by Robert Emmett McDowell holds 470 sentences, grouped into 94 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 470 sentences of The Great Green Blight, unabridged, divided into 94 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Great Green Blight by Robert Emmett McDowell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 470 sentences, grouped into 94 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 94 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 94 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 Green Blight by Robert Emmett McDowell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1879 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #63807 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #63807, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 156 minutes of reading across 376 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Great Green Blight section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of The Great Green Blight 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 Green Blight, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
