Chapter 21 of The history of a mouthful of bread is here in full — 161 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of The history of a mouthful of bread is here in full — 161 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ANIMAL HEAT. Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose? Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so. But what do people make fires for? I ask next.
Chapter 21 of The history of a mouthful of bread is here in full — 161 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/32 · 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 abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and diamond; occurs in all organic compounds
plural of “fire” — the event of something burning (often destructive)
From this reading “But what do people make fires for?”
a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature
From this reading “ANIMAL HEAT.”
a nonmetallic univalent element that is normally a colorless and odorless highly flammable diatomic gas; the simplest and lightest and most abundant element in the universe
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
the metabolic processes whereby certain organisms obtain energy from organic molecules
From this reading “Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?”
third-person singular of “unite” — act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief
From this reading “Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?”
without question
From this reading “Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.”
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 Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading ANIMAL HEAT.
make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading I ask next.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But what do people make fires for?
an abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and diamond; occurs in all organic compounds
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
-ing form of “do” — engage in
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
start firing a weapon
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
plural of “fire” — the event of something burning (often destructive)
From this reading But what do people make fires for?
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature
From this reading ANIMAL HEAT.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
a nonmetallic univalent element that is normally a colorless and odorless highly flammable diatomic gas; the simplest and lightest and most abundant element in the universe
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I ask next.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
used when the thing doing the action is also its object
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
engage in
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading I ask next.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading But what do people make fires for?
an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
the metabolic processes whereby certain organisms obtain energy from organic molecules
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
Something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others.
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
from a time in the past until now
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
express a supposition
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
in contact with each other or in proximity
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
third-person singular of “unite” — act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
without question
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
inside; before a period of time has passed
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading Unquestionably it must be to make a fire, since they never come together without doing so.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Now, then, we have got hold of the secret of respiration; the _oxygen_ within us unites itself to the _hydrogen_ and _carbon._ And for what purpose, do you suppose?
Chapter 21 of The history of a mouthful of bread by Jean Macé holds 161 sentences, grouped into 33 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 21 holds 161 sentences of The history of a mouthful of bread, unabridged, divided into 33 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of The history of a mouthful of bread by Jean Macé exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 161 sentences, grouped into 33 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 33 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 33 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 21 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.
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About 332 minutes of reading across 797 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in The history of a mouthful of bread, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
