Chapter 1 of The Rim of the Desert is here in full — 374 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Rim of the Desert is here in full — 374 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Tisdale nodded slowly. "All we gained was experience. We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound. But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat. I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
Chapter 1 of The Rim of the Desert is here in full — 374 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 15/74 · 5 reading units · Lines 71–75
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.
small and light boat; pointed at both ends; propelled with a paddle
From this reading “But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.”
past form of “gain” — obtain
From this reading “"All we gained was experience.”
water frozen in the solid state
From this reading “I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.”
make an investment
From this reading “We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.”
plural of “peak” — the most extreme possible amount or value
From this reading “I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.”
a journey for some purpose (usually including the return)
From this reading “But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.”
the topmost one of two
From this reading “I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.”
any venturesome undertaking especially one with an uncertain outcome
From this reading “We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.”
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 “But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.”
In this reading “Tisdale nodded slowly.”
In this reading “We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.”
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.
(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 we gained was experience.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
small and light boat; pointed at both ends; propelled with a paddle
From this reading But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.
undergo or live through a difficult experience
From this reading "All we gained was experience.
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
a long narrow inlet of the sea between steep cliffs; common in Norway
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
past form of “gain” — obtain
From this reading "All we gained was experience.
(biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.
water frozen in the solid state
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
make an investment
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.
found pleasant or attractive; often used as a combining form
From this reading But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.
plural of “mountain” — a land mass that projects well above its surroundings; higher than a hill
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading Tisdale nodded slowly.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
above and across; more than
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
plural of “peak” — the most extreme possible amount or value
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
a full supply
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
a male member of a royal family other than the sovereign (especially the son of a sovereign)
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Tisdale nodded slowly.
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
express in words
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tisdale nodded slowly.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
a journey for some purpose (usually including the return)
From this reading But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.
the topmost one of two
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
any venturesome undertaking especially one with an uncertain outcome
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
plural of “wall” — an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading I can't tell you how fine it is in that upper fiord; big peaks and ice walls growing all around.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "All we gained was experience.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "All we gained was experience.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We had plenty of that to invest the next venture over the mountains from Prince William Sound.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading But--do you know?--I always liked that little canoe trip around from Yakutat.
Chapter 1 of The Rim of the Desert by Ada Woodruff Anderson holds 374 sentences, grouped into 75 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 374 sentences of The Rim of the Desert, unabridged, divided into 75 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Rim of the Desert by Ada Woodruff Anderson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 374 sentences, grouped into 75 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 75 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 75 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 Rim of the Desert by Ada Woodruff Anderson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7889 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #13343 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #13343, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1578 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Rim of the Desert section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of The Rim of the Desert 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 Rim of the Desert, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
