Chapter XII of The Young Wireless Operator—Afloat, “A Visit to Chinatown,” is here in full — 395 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XII
Chapter XII of The Young Wireless Operator—Afloat, “A Visit to Chinatown,” is here in full — 395 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It was long after daybreak when Roy awoke. He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow. Something was wrong with him. Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him. He felt sick all over.
Chapter XII of The Young Wireless Operator—Afloat, “A Visit to Chinatown,” is here in full — 395 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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.
inflected form of “awake” — stop sleeping
From this reading “It was long after daybreak when Roy awoke.”
a long trough for feeding cattle
From this reading “He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.”
the first light of day
From this reading “It was long after daybreak when Roy awoke.”
the boundary of a surface
From this reading “He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.”
plural of “illness” — impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism
From this reading “Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.”
a cushion to support the head of a sleeping person
From this reading “He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.”
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading “He felt sick all over.”
a measuring instrument or device for keeping time
From this reading “He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.”
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 long after daybreak when Roy awoke.”
In this reading “He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.”
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.”
In this reading “He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.”
In this reading “He felt sick all over.”
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.
later than; following
From this reading It was long after daybreak when Roy awoke.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.
(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 He felt sick all over.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
inflected form of “awake” — stop sleeping
From this reading It was long after daybreak when Roy awoke.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
a long trough for feeding cattle
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
the first light of day
From this reading It was long after daybreak when Roy awoke.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.
the boundary of a surface
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading He felt sick all over.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Something was wrong with him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
plural of “illness” — impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism
From this reading Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was long after daybreak when Roy awoke.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.
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 It was long after daybreak when Roy awoke.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
above and across; more than
From this reading He felt sick all over.
a cushion to support the head of a sleeping person
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was long after daybreak when Roy awoke.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading He felt sick all over.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading Something was wrong with him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
a measuring instrument or device for keeping time
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back on his pillow.
precisely as stated
From this reading Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was long after daybreak when Roy awoke.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he did not at first know what ailed him.
at the time that
From this reading It was long after daybreak when Roy awoke.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Something was wrong with him.
not correct; not in conformity with fact or truth
From this reading Something was wrong with him.
Chapter 12 of The Young Wireless Operator—Afloat by Lewis E. (Lewis Edwin) Theiss holds 395 sentences, grouped into 79 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 12 holds 395 sentences of The Young Wireless Operator—Afloat, unabridged, divided into 79 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Young Wireless Operator—Afloat by Lewis E. (Lewis Edwin) Theiss exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 395 sentences, grouped into 79 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 79 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 79 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 12 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 Wireless Operator—Afloat by Lewis E. (Lewis Edwin) Theiss on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5031 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #55864 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #55864, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 419 minutes of reading across 1007 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Young Wireless Operator—Afloat section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Young Wireless Operator—Afloat 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 Wireless Operator—Afloat, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
