Chapter 8 of The Status Civilization is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Status Civilization is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Barrent looked around the control room. He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators. He put one on, tested it, and went into the corridor. After a long walk, he reached a door marked CREW'S QUARTERS. Inside, the room was neat and bare.
Chapter 8 of The Status Civilization is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/86 · 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.
a container; usually has a lid
From this reading “He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators.”
an enclosed passageway; rooms usually open onto it
From this reading “He put one on, tested it, and went into the corridor.”
possessive form of “crew” — the men and women who man a vehicle (ship, aircraft, etc.)
From this reading “After a long walk, he reached a door marked CREW'S QUARTERS.”
clean or organized
From this reading “Inside, the room was neat and bare.”
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading “He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators.”
plural of “respirator” — a breathing device for administering long-term artificial respiration
From this reading “He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators.”
the act of storing something
From this reading “He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators.”
tested and proved useful or correct
From this reading “He put one on, tested it, and went into the corridor.”
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 He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators.
later than; following
From this reading After a long walk, he reached a door marked CREW'S QUARTERS.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He put one on, tested it, and went into the corridor.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading Barrent looked around the control room.
completely unclothed
From this reading Inside, the room was neat and bare.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Barrent looked around the control room.
a container; usually has a lid
From this reading He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators.
power to direct or determine
From this reading Barrent looked around the control room.
an enclosed passageway; rooms usually open onto it
From this reading He put one on, tested it, and went into the corridor.
possessive form of “crew” — the men and women who man a vehicle (ship, aircraft, etc.)
From this reading After a long walk, he reached a door marked CREW'S QUARTERS.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading After a long walk, he reached a door marked CREW'S QUARTERS.
(usually followed by “with” or used as a combining form) generously supplied with
From this reading He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators.
set up or found
From this reading He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators.
relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
From this reading Inside, the room was neat and bare.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading He put one on, tested it, and went into the corridor.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading He put one on, tested it, and went into the corridor.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading After a long walk, he reached a door marked CREW'S QUARTERS.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Barrent looked around the control room.
strongly marked; easily noticeable
From this reading After a long walk, he reached a door marked CREW'S QUARTERS.
clean or organized
From this reading Inside, the room was neat and bare.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He put one on, tested it, and went into the corridor.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading He put one on, tested it, and went into the corridor.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading He put one on, tested it, and went into the corridor.
housing available for people to live in
From this reading After a long walk, he reached a door marked CREW'S QUARTERS.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading After a long walk, he reached a door marked CREW'S QUARTERS.
plural of “respirator” — a breathing device for administering long-term artificial respiration
From this reading He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading Barrent looked around the control room.
the act of storing something
From this reading He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators.
tested and proved useful or correct
From this reading He put one on, tested it, and went into the corridor.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Barrent looked around the control room.
the act of traveling by foot
From this reading After a long walk, he reached a door marked CREW'S QUARTERS.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Inside, the room was neat and bare.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading He put one on, tested it, and went into the corridor.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He found a storage bin filled with oxygen respirators.
Chapter 8 of The Status Civilization by Robert Sheckley holds 430 sentences, grouped into 86 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 430 sentences of The Status Civilization, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Status Civilization by Robert Sheckley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 430 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 Status Civilization by Robert Sheckley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4293 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #20919 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #20919, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 357 minutes of reading across 859 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Status Civilization section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The Status Civilization 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 Status Civilization, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
