Chapter 23 of The island is here in full — 215 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The island is here in full — 215 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ANOTHER SAIL. Let him be forgotten for the moment. There is a new ship off the Point! Not an English ship this time--a Yankee, by her beautiful flag. It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
Chapter 23 of The island is here in full — 215 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/43 · 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.
the act of gathering something together
From this reading “It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.”
a conference (usually with someone important)
From this reading “It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.”
plural of “elder” — a person who is older than you are
From this reading “It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.”
inflected form of “man” — take charge of a certain job; occupy a certain work place
From this reading “It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.”
the manner in which something is greeted
From this reading “It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.”
plural of “signal” — any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message
From this reading “It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.”
waves breaking on the shore
From this reading “It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.”
an American who lives in the North (especially during the American Civil War)
From this reading “Not an English ship this time--a Yankee, by her beautiful flag.”
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.
temporarily
In this reading “Let him be forgotten for the moment.”
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 There is a new ship off the Point!
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Not an English ship this time--a Yankee, by her beautiful flag.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading ANOTHER SAIL.
replying
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
the act of gathering something together
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Let him be forgotten for the moment.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading Not an English ship this time--a Yankee, by her beautiful flag.
a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Not an English ship this time--a Yankee, by her beautiful flag.
a conference (usually with someone important)
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
plural of “elder” — a person who is older than you are
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
an Indo-European language belonging to the West Germanic branch; the official language of Britain and the United States and most of the commonwealth countries
From this reading Not an English ship this time--a Yankee, by her beautiful flag.
emblem usually consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design
From this reading Not an English ship this time--a Yankee, by her beautiful flag.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Let him be forgotten for the moment.
Not remembered; lapsed from memory.
From this reading Let him be forgotten for the moment.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Not an English ship this time--a Yankee, by her beautiful flag.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Let him be forgotten for the moment.
moving rapidly or performed quickly or in great haste
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There is a new ship off the Point!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading Let him be forgotten for the moment.
inflected form of “man” — take charge of a certain job; occupy a certain work place
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
thing or person that acts to produce a particular effect or achieve an end
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
a formally arranged gathering
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
a particular point in time
From this reading Let him be forgotten for the moment.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading There is a new ship off the Point!
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Not an English ship this time--a Yankee, by her beautiful flag.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading There is a new ship off the Point!
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading There is a new ship off the Point!
the manner in which something is greeted
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
traverse or travel on (a body of water)
From this reading ANOTHER SAIL.
the place where some action occurs
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
transport commercially
From this reading There is a new ship off the Point!
plural of “signal” — any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
waves breaking on the shore
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Let him be forgotten for the moment.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There is a new ship off the Point!
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Not an English ship this time--a Yankee, by her beautiful flag.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Not an English ship this time--a Yankee, by her beautiful flag.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
structure consisting of a sloping way down to the water from the place where ships are built or repaired
From this reading It is the old scene--the hurried assembling of the people; the signals and answering signals; the manning of the surf boat; the meeting of the elders for consultation as to ways and means of reception.
an American who lives in the North (especially during the American Civil War)
From this reading Not an English ship this time--a Yankee, by her beautiful flag.
Chapter 23 of The island by Richard Whiteing holds 215 sentences, grouped into 43 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 23 holds 215 sentences of The island, unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The island by Richard Whiteing exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 215 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 23 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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Yes. All 3120 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #73620 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #73620, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 260 minutes of reading across 624 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The island section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of The island 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 island, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
