Chapter 4 of The Young Ship-Builders of Elm Island is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Young Ship-Builders of Elm Island is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE WEST WIND. IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished. “Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now. Charlie can finish these chambers as well as I can.” “I have not seasoned stuff to finish but one of them now, and hardly that.
Chapter 4 of The Young Ship-Builders of Elm Island is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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 mountain or tall hill
From this reading ““Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now.”
English architect (1723-1796)
From this reading “Charlie can finish these chambers as well as I can.””
come or bring to a finish or an end
From this reading “Charlie can finish these chambers as well as I can.””
(Old Testament) the second patriarch; son of Abraham and Sarah who was offered by Abraham as a sacrifice to God; father of Jacob and Esau
From this reading ““Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now.”
move something or somebody to a lower position
From this reading “IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.”
march in a procession
From this reading “IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.”
aged or processed
From this reading ““I have not seasoned stuff to finish but one of them now, and hardly that.”
the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object
From this reading ““I have not seasoned stuff to finish but one of them now, and hardly that.”
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 “IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.”
wind that blows from west to east
In this reading “THE WEST WIND.”
run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along
In this reading ““Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Charlie can finish these chambers as well as I can.”
a mountain or tall hill
From this reading “Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “I have not seasoned stuff to finish but one of them now, and hardly that.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Charlie can finish these chambers as well as I can.”
English architect (1723-1796)
From this reading Charlie can finish these chambers as well as I can.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Charlie can finish these chambers as well as I can.”
come or bring to a finish or an end
From this reading Charlie can finish these chambers as well as I can.”
(of materials or goods) brought to the desired final state
From this reading IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading “Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now.
only a very short time before
From this reading “I have not seasoned stuff to finish but one of them now, and hardly that.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “I have not seasoned stuff to finish but one of them now, and hardly that.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Charlie can finish these chambers as well as I can.”
(Old Testament) the second patriarch; son of Abraham and Sarah who was offered by Abraham as a sacrifice to God; father of Jacob and Esau
From this reading “Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.
move something or somebody to a lower position
From this reading IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.
march in a procession
From this reading IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.
an area that is approximately central within some larger region
From this reading IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading “I have not seasoned stuff to finish but one of them now, and hardly that.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading “Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading “I have not seasoned stuff to finish but one of them now, and hardly that.
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now.
aged or processed
From this reading “I have not seasoned stuff to finish but one of them now, and hardly that.
the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object
From this reading “I have not seasoned stuff to finish but one of them now, and hardly that.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “I have not seasoned stuff to finish but one of them now, and hardly that.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE WEST WIND.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading “I have not seasoned stuff to finish but one of them now, and hardly that.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading Charlie can finish these chambers as well as I can.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now.
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading “Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading “Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading IT was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading “Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Charlie can finish these chambers as well as I can.”
the countries of (originally) Europe and (now including) North America and South America
From this reading THE WEST WIND.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading THE WEST WIND.
Chapter 4 of The Young Ship-Builders of Elm Island by Elijah Kellogg holds 135 sentences, grouped into 27 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 4 holds 135 sentences of The Young Ship-Builders of Elm Island, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Young Ship-Builders of Elm Island by Elijah Kellogg exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 135 sentences, grouped into 27 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 27 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 27 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 4 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 Young Ship-Builders of Elm Island by Elijah Kellogg on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2787 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50475 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50475, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 232 minutes of reading across 558 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Young Ship-Builders of Elm Island section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Young Ship-Builders of Elm Island 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 Young Ship-Builders of Elm Island, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
