Chapter 10 of The West Point Rivals is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter X
Chapter 10 of The West Point Rivals is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE JAIL AT HIGHLAND FALLS. You may imagine the consternation of our friends, the plebes. The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless. The sheriff’s gun looked so huge and menacing that it took all their nerve. Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
Chapter 10 of The West Point Rivals is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/21 · 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.
having the wind against the forward side of the sails
From this reading “The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.”
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading “You may imagine the consternation of our friends, the plebes.”
plural of “fight” — a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading “Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.”
elevated (e.g., mountainous) land
From this reading “THE JAIL AT HIGHLAND FALLS.”
threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
From this reading “The sheriff’s gun looked so huge and menacing that it took all their nerve.”
possessive form of “sheriff” — the principal law-enforcement officer in a county
the quality of happening with headlong haste or without warning
From this reading “The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.”
the second largest state; located in southwestern United States on the Gulf of Mexico
From this reading “Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.”
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 “The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.”
In this reading “The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.”
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 Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
having the wind against the forward side of the sails
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading The sheriff’s gun looked so huge and menacing that it took all their nerve.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading THE JAIL AT HIGHLAND FALLS.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (“whole” is often used informally for “wholly”)
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading You may imagine the consternation of our friends, the plebes.
take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission
From this reading Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
divisible by two
From this reading Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
the petals or sepals of a flower that bend downward (especially the outer perianth of an iris)
From this reading THE JAIL AT HIGHLAND FALLS.
plural of “fight” — a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading You may imagine the consternation of our friends, the plebes.
a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading The sheriff’s gun looked so huge and menacing that it took all their nerve.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
lacking in or deprived of strength or power
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength
From this reading Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
elevated (e.g., mountainous) land
From this reading THE JAIL AT HIGHLAND FALLS.
provoking horror
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
unusually great in size or amount or degree or especially extent or scope
From this reading The sheriff’s gun looked so huge and menacing that it took all their nerve.
ten 10s
From this reading Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case
From this reading You may imagine the consternation of our friends, the plebes.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The sheriff’s gun looked so huge and menacing that it took all their nerve.
a correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government (either accused persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a sentence)
From this reading THE JAIL AT HIGHLAND FALLS.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The sheriff’s gun looked so huge and menacing that it took all their nerve.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading You may imagine the consternation of our friends, the plebes.
threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
From this reading The sheriff’s gun looked so huge and menacing that it took all their nerve.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
any bundle of nerve fibers running to various organs and tissues of the body
From this reading The sheriff’s gun looked so huge and menacing that it took all their nerve.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading You may imagine the consternation of our friends, the plebes.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading You may imagine the consternation of our friends, the plebes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You may imagine the consternation of our friends, the plebes.
possessive form of “sheriff” — the principal law-enforcement officer in a county
From this reading The sheriff’s gun looked so huge and menacing that it took all their nerve.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading The sheriff’s gun looked so huge and menacing that it took all their nerve.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
the quality of happening with headlong haste or without warning
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
the second largest state; located in southwestern United States on the Gulf of Mexico
From this reading Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE JAIL AT HIGHLAND FALLS.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The sheriff’s gun looked so huge and menacing that it took all their nerve.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
a special situation
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Even Texas, hero of a hundred fights, did not dare to move an arm.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading The sheriff’s gun looked so huge and menacing that it took all their nerve.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The whole thing had come with such horrible suddenness that they were completely taken aback, and helpless.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You may imagine the consternation of our friends, the plebes.
Chapter 10 of The West Point Rivals by Upton Sinclair holds 109 sentences, grouped into 22 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 10 holds 109 sentences of The West Point Rivals, unabridged, divided into 22 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 10 of The West Point Rivals by Upton Sinclair exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 109 sentences, grouped into 22 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 22 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 22 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 10 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 West Point Rivals by Upton Sinclair on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4285 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #68041 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #68041, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 357 minutes of reading across 857 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The West Point Rivals section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of The West Point Rivals 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 West Point Rivals, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
