Chapter 1 of The Machine That Floats is here in full — 449 sentences across 90 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Machine That Floats is here in full — 449 sentences across 90 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_What if you invented a space ship? Would you give it to the world? And what if you decide NOT to! Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips. He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
Chapter 1 of The Machine That Floats is here in full — 449 sentences across 90 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/89 · 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.
plural of “cigarette” — finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
From this reading “Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.”
bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure
From this reading “Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.”
past form of “fish” — seek indirectly
From this reading “Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.”
reflecting the fear or terror of one who is hunted
From this reading “Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.”
past form of “invent” — come up with (an idea, plan, explanation, theory, or principle) after a mental effort
From this reading “_What if you invented a space ship?”
the next day
From this reading “Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.”
past form of “poke” — poke or thrust abruptly
From this reading “Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.”
a strong worktable for a carpenter or mechanic
From this reading “He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.”
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.
move the upper body backwards and down
In this reading “He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.”
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 _What if you invented a space ship?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And what if you decide NOT to!
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
to a severe or serious degree
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
inflected form of “blow” — exhale hard
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
plural of “cigarette” — finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
reach, make, or come to a decision about something
From this reading And what if you decide NOT to!
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
past form of “fish” — seek indirectly
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading Would you give it to the world?
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
of comparatively great physical weight or density
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
reflecting the fear or terror of one who is hunted
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading _What if you invented a space ship?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
past form of “invent” — come up with (an idea, plan, explanation, theory, or principle) after a mental effort
From this reading _What if you invented a space ship?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Would you give it to the world?
past form of “lean” — to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
set afire or burning
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
plural of “lip” — either of two fleshy folds of tissue that surround the mouth and play a role in speaking
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
not compact or dense in structure or arrangement
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
the next day
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading And what if you decide NOT to!
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
past form of “poke” — poke or thrust abruptly
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
transport commercially
From this reading _What if you invented a space ship?
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading Are you a criminal to be hunted down?_ Bill Morrow fished his cigarettes out, shook one loose, and poked it between his lips.
heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
the unlimited expanse in which everything is located
From this reading _What if you invented a space ship?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Would you give it to the world?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Would you give it to the world?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading _What if you invented a space ship?
in the company of; together with
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
a strong worktable for a carpenter or mechanic
From this reading He lighted it with hands that shook badly, he leaned back on the workbench and blew smoke in a long, heavy sigh.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading Would you give it to the world?
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Would you give it to the world?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading _What if you invented a space ship?
Chapter 1 of The Machine That Floats by Joe Gibson holds 449 sentences, grouped into 90 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 449 sentences of The Machine That Floats, unabridged, divided into 90 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Machine That Floats by Joe Gibson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 449 sentences, grouped into 90 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 90 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 90 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 Machine That Floats by Joe Gibson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2256 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #49693 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #49693, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 188 minutes of reading across 452 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Machine That Floats section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of The Machine That Floats 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 Machine That Floats, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
