Chapter 1 of The Rough Road is here in full — 255 sentences across 51 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Rough Road is here in full — 255 sentences across 51 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor. It tells of his doings and of a girl in England and a girl in France. Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war. Doggie Trevor did not get the Victoria Cross. He got no cross or distinction whatever.
Chapter 1 of The Rough Road is here in full — 255 sentences across 51 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/51 · 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.
for the most part
From this reading “Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.”
a discrimination between things as different and distinct on the basis of their characteristics or attributes
From this reading “He got no cross or distinction whatever.”
informal terms for dogs
From this reading “John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.”
manner of acting or controlling yourself
From this reading “It tells of his doings and of a girl in England and a girl in France.”
past form of “enable” — render capable or able for some task
From this reading “Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.”
plural of “influence” — a power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc
From this reading “Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.”
a narrow way or road
From this reading “John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.”
queen of Great Britain and Ireland and empress of India from 1837 to 1901; the last Hanoverian ruler of England (1819-1901)
From this reading “Doggie Trevor did not get the Victoria Cross.”
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 It tells of his doings and of a girl in England and a girl in France.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It tells of his doings and of a girl in England and a girl in France.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.
for the most part
From this reading Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.
feeling or showing worry or solicitude
From this reading Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.
travel across or pass over
From this reading Doggie Trevor did not get the Victoria Cross.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Doggie Trevor did not get the Victoria Cross.
a discrimination between things as different and distinct on the basis of their characteristics or attributes
From this reading He got no cross or distinction whatever.
informal terms for dogs
From this reading John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.
manner of acting or controlling yourself
From this reading It tells of his doings and of a girl in England and a girl in France.
past form of “enable” — render capable or able for some task
From this reading Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.
a division of the United Kingdom
From this reading It tells of his doings and of a girl in England and a girl in France.
a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe
From this reading It tells of his doings and of a girl in England and a girl in France.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Doggie Trevor did not get the Victoria Cross.
a young female
From this reading It tells of his doings and of a girl in England and a girl in France.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading He got no cross or distinction whatever.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He got no cross or distinction whatever.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading It tells of his doings and of a girl in England and a girl in France.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It tells of his doings and of a girl in England and a girl in France.
plural of “influence” — a power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc
From this reading Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It tells of his doings and of a girl in England and a girl in France.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.
a narrow way or road
From this reading John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.
not any; not one
From this reading He got no cross or distinction whatever.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Doggie Trevor did not get the Victoria Cross.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading He got no cross or distinction whatever.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.
plural of “tell” — a Swiss patriot who lived in the early 14th century and who was renowned for his skill as an archer
From this reading It tells of his doings and of a girl in England and a girl in France.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd This is the story of Doggie Trevor.
queen of Great Britain and Ireland and empress of India from 1837 to 1901; the last Hanoverian ruler of England (1819-1901)
From this reading Doggie Trevor did not get the Victoria Cross.
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.
any or all of a kind, it does not matter which
From this reading He got no cross or distinction whatever.
be the winner in a contest or competition; be victorious
From this reading Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Chiefly it is concerned with the influences that enabled him to win through the war.
Chapter 1 of The Rough Road by William John Locke holds 255 sentences, grouped into 51 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 255 sentences of The Rough Road, unabridged, divided into 51 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Rough Road by William John Locke exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 255 sentences, grouped into 51 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 51 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 51 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 Rough Road by William John Locke on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7200 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #27786 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #27786, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1440 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Rough Road section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Rough Road 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 Rough Road, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
