Chapter 1 of The Island House: A Tale for the Young Folks is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Island House: A Tale for the Young Folks is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
OLD MANSY HEARS SOMETHING. "I think I'll get out here, young man." "All right, missus." The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended. With her descended also a bulging umbrella and numerous packages.
Chapter 1 of The Island House: A Tale for the Young Folks is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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.
curving or bulging outward
From this reading “With her descended also a bulging umbrella and numerous packages.”
someone whose employment involves carrying something
From this reading “The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.”
disabled in the feet or legs
From this reading “The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.”
causing or characterized by jolts and irregular movements
From this reading “The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.”
informal term of address for someone's wife
From this reading “"All right, missus."”
plural of “package” — a collection of things wrapped or boxed together
From this reading “With her descended also a bulging umbrella and numerous packages.”
a lightweight handheld collapsible canopy
From this reading “With her descended also a bulging umbrella and numerous packages.”
exhausted
From this reading “The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.”
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.
a teenager or a young adult male
In this reading “"I think I'll get out here, young man."”
In this reading “The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.”
move out of or depart from
In this reading “"I think I'll get out here, young man."”
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 With her descended also a bulging umbrella and numerous packages.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading "All right, missus."
in addition
From this reading With her descended also a bulging umbrella and numerous packages.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
curving or bulging outward
From this reading With her descended also a bulging umbrella and numerous packages.
someone whose employment involves carrying something
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
a heavy open wagon usually having two wheels and drawn by an animal
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
past form of “descend” — move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
posing no difficulty; requiring little effort
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "I think I'll get out here, young man."
showing or causing joy and pleasure; especially made happy
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
disabled in the feet or legs
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
third-person singular of “hear” — perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading OLD MANSY HEARS SOMETHING.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading With her descended also a bulging umbrella and numerous packages.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading "I think I'll get out here, young man."
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I think I'll get out here, young man."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I think I'll get out here, young man."
causing or characterized by jolts and irregular movements
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
in an unhurried way or at one's convenience
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading "I think I'll get out here, young man."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading OLD MANSY HEARS SOMETHING.
informal term of address for someone's wife
From this reading "All right, missus."
amounting to a large indefinite number
From this reading With her descended also a bulging umbrella and numerous packages.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading OLD MANSY HEARS SOMETHING.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading "I think I'll get out here, young man."
plural of “package” — a collection of things wrapped or boxed together
From this reading With her descended also a bulging umbrella and numerous packages.
a traveler riding in a vehicle (a boat or bus or car or plane or train etc) who is not operating it
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
precisely, exactly
From this reading "All right, missus."
a thing, without saying which
From this reading OLD MANSY HEARS SOMETHING.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
a special situation
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading "I think I'll get out here, young man."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
a lightweight handheld collapsible canopy
From this reading With her descended also a bulging umbrella and numerous packages.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
exhausted
From this reading The old carrier stopped his jolting cart--an easy thing to do, for the wearied horse was glad of the chance of halting--and the passenger leisurely descended.
in the company of; together with
From this reading With her descended also a bulging umbrella and numerous packages.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading "I think I'll get out here, young man."
Chapter 1 of The Island House: A Tale for the Young Folks by F. M. (Frederic Morell) Holmes holds 188 sentences, grouped into 38 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 188 sentences of The Island House: A Tale for the Young Folks, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Island House: A Tale for the Young Folks by F. M. (Frederic Morell) Holmes exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 188 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 Island House: A Tale for the Young Folks by F. M. (Frederic Morell) Holmes on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 938 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26627 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26627, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 78 minutes of reading across 188 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Island House: A Tale for the Young Folks section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of The Island House: A Tale for the Young Folks 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 House: A Tale for the Young Folks, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
