Chapter 1 of The Old Martians is here in full — 463 sentences across 93 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Old Martians is here in full — 463 sentences across 93 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
[Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me. Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera. "Don't just stand there, Dotty! Move! Do something!
Chapter 1 of The Old Martians is here in full — 463 sentences across 93 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/92 · 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.
equipment for taking photographs (usually consisting of a lightproof box with a lens at one end and light-sensitive film at the other)
From this reading “Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera.”
informal or slang terms for mentally irregular
From this reading “"Don't just stand there, Dotty!”
armor plate that protects the head
From this reading “[Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.”
having the back and shoulders rounded; not erect
From this reading “Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera.”
a transparent optical device used to converge or diverge transmitted light and to form images
From this reading “Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera.”
plural of “martian” — imaginary people who live on the planet Mars
soft spongelike central cylinder of the stems of most flowering plants
From this reading “[Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.”
plural of “tourist” — someone who travels for pleasure
From this reading “[Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.”
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.
In this reading “[Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.”
In this reading “"Don't just stand there, Dotty!”
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 [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
equipment for taking photographs (usually consisting of a lightproof box with a lens at one end and light-sensitive film at the other)
From this reading Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Do something!
the basic monetary unit in many countries; equal to 100 cents
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Don't just stand there, Dotty!
informal or slang terms for mentally irregular
From this reading "Don't just stand there, Dotty!
at or to or toward the front
From this reading Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera.
a young female
From this reading Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
armor plate that protects the head
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
having the back and shoulders rounded; not erect
From this reading Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera.
and nothing more
From this reading "Don't just stand there, Dotty!
a transparent optical device used to converge or diverge transmitted light and to form images
From this reading Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
plural of “martian” — imaginary people who live on the planet Mars
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Move!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
soft spongelike central cylinder of the stems of most flowering plants
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
past form of “reckon” — expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
plural of “ruin” — an irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
so extremely intense as to evoke screams
From this reading Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading Do something!
be standing; be upright
From this reading "Don't just stand there, Dotty!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
in or at that place or location
From this reading "Don't just stand there, Dotty!
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
plural of “tourist” — someone who travels for pleasure
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
in the direction of
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Hunched forward, he was screaming at the girl in the lens of his camera.
in the company of; together with
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading [Sidenote: _They opened the ruins to tourists at a dollar a head but they reckoned without The OLD MARTIANS_] The man with the pith helmet had his back toward me.
Chapter 1 of The Old Martians by Rog Phillips holds 463 sentences, grouped into 93 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 463 sentences of The Old Martians, unabridged, divided into 93 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Old Martians by Rog Phillips exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 463 sentences, grouped into 93 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 93 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 93 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 Old Martians by Rog Phillips on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 463 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32590 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32590, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 38 minutes of reading across 93 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Old Martians section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of The Old Martians 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 Old Martians, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
