Chapter 3 of The Iron Trail is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Iron Trail is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Very well indeed, thank you." O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him. Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting. "Bless my soul!" Gordon exclaimed, finally.
Chapter 3 of The Iron Trail is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
lacking grace in movement or posture
From this reading “Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.”
mark as different
From this reading “Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.”
-ing form of “exchange” — give to, and receive from, one another
From this reading “O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.”
(usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good will (especially on meeting)
From this reading “Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.”
past form of “insist” — be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
From this reading “O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.”
plural of “laborer” — someone who works with their hands; someone engaged in manual labor
From this reading “Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.”
people having common origins or traditions and often comprising a nation
From this reading “Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.”
plural of “swede” — a native or inhabitant of Sweden
From this reading “Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.”
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 O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
give a benediction to
From this reading "Bless my soul!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
lacking grace in movement or posture
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
cause to herd, drive, or crowd together
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
mark as different
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
-ing form of “exchange” — give to, and receive from, one another
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading Gordon exclaimed, finally.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
after an unspecified period of time or an especially long delay
From this reading Gordon exclaimed, finally.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
of concern to or concerning the affairs of other nations (other than your own)
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Gordon exclaimed, finally.
(usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good will (especially on meeting)
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
plural of “head” — the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading "Very well indeed, thank you."
past form of “insist” — be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
plural of “laborer” — someone who works with their hands; someone engaged in manual labor
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "Bless my soul!"
people having common origins or traditions and often comprising a nation
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
gradual improvement or growth or development
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
the act of causing something to move up and down (or back and forth) with quick movements
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
past form of “show” — give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
the immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life
From this reading "Bless my soul!"
plural of “swede” — a native or inhabitant of Sweden
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
the kind and number and arrangement of teeth (collectively) in a person or animal
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading "Very well indeed, thank you."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
precisely as stated
From this reading "Very well indeed, thank you."
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Very well indeed, thank you."
belonging to which person
From this reading Clumsy Swedes bobbed their heads, dark-browed foreign laborers whose nationality it was hard to distinguish showed their teeth and chattered words of greeting.
in the company of; together with
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
the words that are spoken
From this reading O'Neil's progress was slow, for half the crowd insisted upon shaking his hand and exchanging a few words with him.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Very well indeed, thank you."
Chapter 3 of The Iron Trail by Rex Beach holds 416 sentences, grouped into 84 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 3 holds 416 sentences of The Iron Trail, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Iron Trail by Rex Beach exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 3 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 Trail by Rex Beach on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7492 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5233 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5233, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1499 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Iron Trail section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of The Iron Trail 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 Trail, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
