Chapter 1 of The survivors is here in full — 362 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The survivors is here in full — 362 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety. It was a magnificent display of the will for survival. The only question was_, whose _survival_? There were only four of them now. Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
Chapter 1 of The survivors is here in full — 362 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/72 · 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.
-ing form of “cascade” — rush down in big quantities, like a cascade
From this reading “Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.”
something intended to communicate a particular impression
From this reading “It was a magnificent display of the will for survival.”
in a literal sense
From this reading “Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.”
fraught with danger
From this reading “_Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.”
make a loud noise, as of wind, water, or vehicles
From this reading “Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.”
a unit strength of a radioactive source equal to one million disintegrations per second
From this reading “Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.”
inflected form of “slog” — work doggedly or persistently
From this reading “_Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.”
a state of surviving; remaining alive
From this reading “It was a magnificent display of the will for survival.”
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.
In this reading “Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.”
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 _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
-ing form of “cascade” — rush down in big quantities, like a cascade
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
something intended to communicate a particular impression
From this reading It was a magnificent display of the will for survival.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading It was a magnificent display of the will for survival.
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
From this reading _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
destroyed or killed
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort
From this reading _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a magnificent display of the will for survival.
in a literal sense
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
characterized by grandeur
From this reading It was a magnificent display of the will for survival.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading There were only four of them now.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
and nothing more
From this reading The only question was_, whose _survival_?
fraught with danger
From this reading _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of
From this reading The only question was_, whose _survival_?
make a loud noise, as of wind, water, or vehicles
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
a unit strength of a radioactive source equal to one million disintegrations per second
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
the state of being certain that adverse effects will not be caused by some agent under defined conditions
From this reading _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
transport commercially
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
inflected form of “slog” — work doggedly or persistently
From this reading _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
a state of surviving; remaining alive
From this reading It was a magnificent display of the will for survival.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There were only four of them now.
in the direction of
From this reading _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was a magnificent display of the will for survival.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading _Step by gruelling step the four of them slogged their way toward a perilous safety.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading There were only four of them now.
belonging to which person
From this reading The only question was_, whose _survival_?
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading It was a magnificent display of the will for survival.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Soames and Rutherford had literally gone down with the ship in a roar of cascading rock and sand.
Chapter 1 of The survivors by T. D. Hamm holds 362 sentences, grouped into 73 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 362 sentences of The survivors, unabridged, divided into 73 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The survivors by T. D. Hamm exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 362 sentences, grouped into 73 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 73 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 73 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 survivors by T. D. Hamm 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 survivors section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The survivors 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 survivors, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
