Chapter 21 of The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills is here in full — 150 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills is here in full — 150 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
RAKED BY THE "PIG" "Look!" shouted Mr. Phillips. Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away. "What is it?" "There's somebody in the river." "It's Rush.
Chapter 21 of The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills is here in full — 150 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/30 · 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.
make overcast or cloudy
From this reading “Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.”
past form of “drift” — be in motion due to some air or water current
From this reading “Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.”
domestic swine
From this reading “RAKED BY THE "PIG" "Look!" shouted Mr. Phillips.”
past form of “rake” — move through with or as if with a rake
From this reading “RAKED BY THE "PIG" "Look!" shouted Mr. Phillips.”
move hurridly
From this reading “"It's Rush.”
in a vehement outcry
From this reading “RAKED BY THE "PIG" "Look!" shouted Mr. Phillips.”
a person, without saying who
From this reading “"There's somebody in the river."”
travel by means of steam power
From this reading “Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.”
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 “Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.”
In this reading “Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.”
In this reading “Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.”
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 Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading RAKED BY THE "PIG" "Look!" shouted Mr. Phillips.
make overcast or cloudy
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
past form of “drift” — be in motion due to some air or water current
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "There's somebody in the river."
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "What is it?"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "What is it?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It's Rush.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading RAKED BY THE "PIG" "Look!" shouted Mr. Phillips.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
a form of address for a man
From this reading RAKED BY THE "PIG" "Look!" shouted Mr. Phillips.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading RAKED BY THE "PIG" "Look!" shouted Mr. Phillips.
domestic swine
From this reading RAKED BY THE "PIG" "Look!" shouted Mr. Phillips.
past form of “rake” — move through with or as if with a rake
From this reading RAKED BY THE "PIG" "Look!" shouted Mr. Phillips.
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading "There's somebody in the river."
move hurridly
From this reading "It's Rush.
in a vehement outcry
From this reading RAKED BY THE "PIG" "Look!" shouted Mr. Phillips.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
a person, without saying who
From this reading "There's somebody in the river."
travel by means of steam power
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading RAKED BY THE "PIG" "Look!" shouted Mr. Phillips.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "There's somebody in the river."
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "What is it?"
Chapter 21 of The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills by James R. Mears holds 150 sentences, grouped into 30 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 150 sentences of The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills by James R. Mears exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 150 sentences, grouped into 30 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 30 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 30 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.
Common questions about reading The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills by James R. Mears on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4128 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #39807 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #39807, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 344 minutes of reading across 826 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills 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 Iron Boys in the Steel Mills, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
