Chapter 8 of The shadow girl is here in full — 116 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The shadow girl is here in full — 116 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men. I recall that something struck me and I fell. Turber was holding Nanette. I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off. Then I was struck again and everything went black.
Chapter 8 of The shadow girl is here in full — 116 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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.
serving as an essential component
From this reading “UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.”
the first light of day
From this reading “UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.”
past form of “kick” — drive or propel with the foot
From this reading “I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.”
staying power
From this reading “I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.”
a large area of land preserved in its natural state as public property
From this reading “UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.”
recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
From this reading “I recall that something struck me and I fell.”
a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately
From this reading “UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.”
of depth; not capable of being sounded or measured
From this reading “UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.”
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.
belong to an earlier time
In this reading “UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.”
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
In this reading “I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.”
In this reading “UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.”
assail or attack on all sides: "The zebra was beset by leopards"
In this reading “UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.”
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.
anew
From this reading Then I was struck again and everything went black.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading Then I was struck again and everything went black.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.
serving as an essential component
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
the first light of day
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading Then I was struck again and everything went black.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading I recall that something struck me and I fell.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
the act of retaining something
From this reading Turber was holding Nanette.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
past form of “kick” — drive or propel with the foot
From this reading I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.
staying power
From this reading I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I recall that something struck me and I fell.
the force of workers available
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Turber was holding Nanette.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.
a large area of land preserved in its natural state as public property
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
From this reading I recall that something struck me and I fell.
a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading I recall that something struck me and I fell.
(used in combination) affected by something overwhelming
From this reading I recall that something struck me and I fell.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then I was struck again and everything went black.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
of depth; not capable of being sounded or measured
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Turber was holding Nanette.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading I caught him by the legs as I went down, but he kicked me off.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
at the time that
From this reading UNFATHOMABLE SCOUNDREL I must go back now to that time at dawn in Central Park, when we were set upon by Turber and his men.
Chapter 8 of The shadow girl by Ray Cummings holds 116 sentences, grouped into 24 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 8 holds 116 sentences of The shadow girl, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The shadow girl by Ray Cummings exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 116 sentences, grouped into 24 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 24 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 24 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 8 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 shadow girl by Ray Cummings 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 shadow girl section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The shadow girl 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 shadow girl, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
