Chapter 1 of The Hilltop Boys on the River is here in full — 104 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Hilltop Boys on the River is here in full — 104 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat. Won't you let me buy you one?" "No, not a bit of it, Dick." "But you want one?" "Certainly, and I am going to have one."
Chapter 1 of The Hilltop Boys on the River is here in full — 104 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/20 · 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 small piece or quantity of something
From this reading “"No, not a bit of it, Dick."”
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading “"If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.”
obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
From this reading “Won't you let me buy you one?"”
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading “"Certainly, and I am going to have one."”
someone who is a detective
From this reading “"No, not a bit of it, Dick."”
a small worthless amount
From this reading “"If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.”
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading “"If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.”
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading “"But you want one?"”
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 "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading "Certainly, and I am going to have one."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "Certainly, and I am going to have one."
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
a small piece or quantity of something
From this reading "No, not a bit of it, Dick."
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading "But you want one?"
obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
From this reading Won't you let me buy you one?"
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading "Certainly, and I am going to have one."
someone who is a detective
From this reading "No, not a bit of it, Dick."
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
the act of departing
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Certainly, and I am going to have one."
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "No, not a bit of it, Dick."
a small worthless amount
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading Won't you let me buy you one?"
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Won't you let me buy you one?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
not any; not one
From this reading "No, not a bit of it, Dick."
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "No, not a bit of it, Dick."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "No, not a bit of it, Dick."
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Won't you let me buy you one?"
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading "But you want one?"
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
in the company of; together with
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Won't you let me buy you one?"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "If you are going with the boys on the river, Jack, you will have to get a motor-boat.
Chapter 1 of The Hilltop Boys on the River by Cyril Burleigh holds 104 sentences, grouped into 21 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 104 sentences of The Hilltop Boys on the River, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Hilltop Boys on the River by Cyril Burleigh exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 104 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 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 Hilltop Boys on the River by Cyril Burleigh on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Hilltop Boys on the River section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The Hilltop Boys on the River 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 Hilltop Boys on the River, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
