Chapter 1 of The Ship in the Desert is here in full — 471 sentences across 95 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Ship in the Desert is here in full — 471 sentences across 95 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE SHIP IN THE DESERT. SHIP IN THE DESERT. AUTHOR OF "SONGS OF THE SIERRAS" AND "SONGS OF THE SUN-LANDS." BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS. 1875.
Chapter 1 of The Ship in the Desert is here in full — 471 sentences across 95 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/94 · 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.
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading “AUTHOR OF "SONGS OF THE SIERRAS" AND "SONGS OF THE SUN-LANDS."”
state capital and largest city of Massachusetts; a major center for banking and financial services
From this reading “BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS.”
plural of “brother” — a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading “BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS.”
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading “THE SHIP IN THE DESERT.”
United States biochemist (born in England) honored for his discovery that some genes contain introns (born in 1943)
From this reading “BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS.”
transport commercially
From this reading “THE SHIP IN THE DESERT.”
plural of “sierra” — a range of mountains (usually with jagged peaks and irregular outline)
From this reading “AUTHOR OF "SONGS OF THE SIERRAS" AND "SONGS OF THE SUN-LANDS."”
plural of “song” — a short musical composition with words
From this reading “AUTHOR OF "SONGS OF THE SIERRAS" AND "SONGS OF THE SUN-LANDS."”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 1875.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading AUTHOR OF "SONGS OF THE SIERRAS" AND "SONGS OF THE SUN-LANDS."
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading AUTHOR OF "SONGS OF THE SIERRAS" AND "SONGS OF THE SUN-LANDS."
state capital and largest city of Massachusetts; a major center for banking and financial services
From this reading BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS.
plural of “brother” — a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS.
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading THE SHIP IN THE DESERT.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading THE SHIP IN THE DESERT.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading AUTHOR OF "SONGS OF THE SIERRAS" AND "SONGS OF THE SUN-LANDS."
United States biochemist (born in England) honored for his discovery that some genes contain introns (born in 1943)
From this reading BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS.
transport commercially
From this reading THE SHIP IN THE DESERT.
plural of “sierra” — a range of mountains (usually with jagged peaks and irregular outline)
From this reading AUTHOR OF "SONGS OF THE SIERRAS" AND "SONGS OF THE SUN-LANDS."
plural of “song” — a short musical composition with words
From this reading AUTHOR OF "SONGS OF THE SIERRAS" AND "SONGS OF THE SUN-LANDS."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading AUTHOR OF "SONGS OF THE SIERRAS" AND "SONGS OF THE SUN-LANDS."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE SHIP IN THE DESERT.
Chapter 1 of The Ship in the Desert by Joaquin Miller holds 471 sentences, grouped into 95 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 471 sentences of The Ship in the Desert, unabridged, divided into 95 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Ship in the Desert by Joaquin Miller exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 471 sentences, grouped into 95 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 95 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 95 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 Ship in the Desert by Joaquin Miller on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 950 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41955 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41955, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 79 minutes of reading across 190 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Ship in the Desert section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of The Ship in 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 Ship in the Desert, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
