Chapter 18 of The Straits Impregnable is here in full — 292 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of The Straits Impregnable is here in full — 292 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved. The corporal came over to me, dirty and very tired. He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted. At last he said: “Have you heard about Lewis?” “What about Lewis?”
Chapter 18 of The Straits Impregnable is here in full — 292 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/58 · 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.
eat an early morning meal
From this reading “REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.”
a noncommissioned officer in the Army or Air Force or Marines
From this reading “The corporal came over to me, dirty and very tired.”
soiled or likely to soil with dirt or grime
From this reading “The corporal came over to me, dirty and very tired.”
(of materials or goods) brought to the desired final state
From this reading “REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.”
United States rock star singer and pianist (born in 1935)
From this reading “At last he said: “Have you heard about Lewis?””
plural of “reality” — all of your experiences that determine how things appear to you
From this reading “REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.”
having the beard or hair cut off close to the skin
From this reading “REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.”
past form of “wonder” — have a wish or desire to know something
From this reading “He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted.”
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.
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted.”
communicate the intended meaning or impression
In this reading “The corporal came over to me, dirty and very tired.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading At last he said: “Have you heard about Lewis?”
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted.
eat an early morning meal
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The corporal came over to me, dirty and very tired.
a commissioned military officer in the United States Army or Air Force or Marines who ranks above a lieutenant colonel and below a brigadier general
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
a noncommissioned officer in the Army or Air Force or Marines
From this reading The corporal came over to me, dirty and very tired.
soiled or likely to soil with dirt or grime
From this reading The corporal came over to me, dirty and very tired.
(of materials or goods) brought to the desired final state
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading At last he said: “Have you heard about Lewis?”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading At last he said: “Have you heard about Lewis?”
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
immediately past
From this reading At last he said: “Have you heard about Lewis?”
United States rock star singer and pianist (born in 1935)
From this reading At last he said: “Have you heard about Lewis?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The corporal came over to me, dirty and very tired.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted.
above and across; more than
From this reading The corporal came over to me, dirty and very tired.
plural of “reality” — all of your experiences that determine how things appear to you
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading At last he said: “Have you heard about Lewis?”
having the beard or hair cut off close to the skin
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
depleted of strength or energy
From this reading The corporal came over to me, dirty and very tired.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The corporal came over to me, dirty and very tired.
up to a particular time
From this reading He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted.
precisely as stated
From this reading The corporal came over to me, dirty and very tired.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted.
during the time that
From this reading REALITIES I had finished breakfast half an hour, and now loafed by my funk-hole while the colonel shaved.
past form of “wonder” — have a wish or desire to know something
From this reading He looked at me, head on one side, until I wondered what he wanted.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading At last he said: “Have you heard about Lewis?”
Chapter 18 of The Straits Impregnable by Sydney Loch holds 292 sentences, grouped into 59 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 18 holds 292 sentences of The Straits Impregnable, unabridged, divided into 59 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of The Straits Impregnable by Sydney Loch exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 292 sentences, grouped into 59 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 59 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 59 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 18 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 Straits Impregnable by Sydney Loch on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4900 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60875 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60875, 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 Straits Impregnable section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Straits Impregnable 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 Straits Impregnable, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
