Chapter 1 of The man who knew everything is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The man who knew everything is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_Pst! This is top secret. Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them. They haven't got a secret left to their name. We know every detail.
Chapter 1 of The man who knew everything is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading “Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.”
an isolated fact that is considered separately from the whole
From this reading “We know every detail.”
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading “They haven't got a secret left to their name.”
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading “They haven't got a secret left to their name.”
plural of “russian” — a native or inhabitant of Russia
From this reading “Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.”
Something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others.
From this reading “This is top secret.”
the upper part of anything
From this reading “This is top secret.”
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading “Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.”
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.
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 They haven't got a secret left to their name.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
an isolated fact that is considered separately from the whole
From this reading We know every detail.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading We know every detail.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They haven't got a secret left to their name.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading This is top secret.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading We know every detail.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading They haven't got a secret left to their name.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading They haven't got a secret left to their name.
standard time in the 8th time zone west of Greenwich, reckoned at the 120th meridian west; used in far western states of the United States
From this reading _Pst!
precisely, exactly
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
plural of “russian” — a native or inhabitant of Russia
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
Something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others.
From this reading This is top secret.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading They haven't got a secret left to their name.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They haven't got a secret left to their name.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This is top secret.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They haven't got a secret left to their name.
the upper part of anything
From this reading This is top secret.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
in or at the place that
From this reading Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them.
Chapter 1 of The man who knew everything by Randall Garrett holds 406 sentences, grouped into 82 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 406 sentences of The man who knew everything, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The man who knew everything by Randall Garrett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 406 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 man who knew everything by Randall Garrett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The man who knew everything section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The man who knew everything 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 man who knew everything, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
