Chapter 12 of The Ship of Stars is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Ship of Stars is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE BUILDERS. These things happened on a Friday. After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books. He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him. “Put them away,” he said.
Chapter 12 of The Ship of Stars is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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.
Bound written or printed works.
From this reading “After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.”
eat an early morning meal
From this reading “After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.”
plural of “builder” — a substance added to soaps or detergents to increase their cleansing action
From this reading “THE BUILDERS.”
go or come after and bring or take back
From this reading “After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.”
the sixth day of the week; the fifth working day
From this reading “These things happened on a Friday.”
an established custom
From this reading “He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.”
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading “He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.”
chewy candy of sugar or syrup boiled until thick and pulled until glossy
From this reading “After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.”
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 These things happened on a Friday.
later than; following
From this reading After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading “Put them away,” he said.
Bound written or printed works.
From this reading After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.
eat an early morning meal
From this reading After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.
plural of “builder” — a substance added to soaps or detergents to increase their cleansing action
From this reading THE BUILDERS.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.
go or come after and bring or take back
From this reading After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.
the sixth day of the week; the fifth working day
From this reading These things happened on a Friday.
an established custom
From this reading He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.
past form of “happen” — come to pass
From this reading These things happened on a Friday.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading These things happened on a Friday.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading “Put them away,” he said.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Put them away,” he said.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.
chewy candy of sugar or syrup boiled until thick and pulled until glossy
From this reading After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE BUILDERS.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading “Put them away,” he said.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading These things happened on a Friday.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading These things happened on a Friday.
the process of using your mind to consider something carefully
From this reading He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading After breakfast next morning Taffy went to fetch his books.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading He did so out of habit and without thinking; but his father stopped him.
Chapter 12 of The Ship of Stars by Arthur Quiller-Couch holds 186 sentences, grouped into 38 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 12 holds 186 sentences of The Ship of Stars, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Ship of Stars by Arthur Quiller-Couch exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 186 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 12 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 of Stars by Arthur Quiller-Couch on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4896 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #16000 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #16000, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 408 minutes of reading across 980 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Ship of Stars section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of The Ship of Stars 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 of Stars, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
