Chapter 21 of Tom Swift and His Airship is here in full — 75 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of Tom Swift and His Airship is here in full — 75 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could. "You seem excited." "So would you, if you had heard what I did." "What? You don't mean that some of the gang is down there?"
Chapter 21 of Tom Swift and His Airship is here in full — 75 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/15 · 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.
(of persons) excessively affected by emotion
From this reading “"You seem excited."”
cause to be firmly attached
From this reading “On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.”
an association of criminals
From this reading “You don't mean that some of the gang is down there?"”
moving with great haste
From this reading “On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.”
a precautionary measure warding off impending danger or damage or injury etc.
From this reading “On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.”
a protective covering that covers or forms the top of a building
From this reading “On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.”
to move about or proceed hurriedly
From this reading “On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.”
a track or mark left by something that has passed
From this reading “On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.”
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.
following the length of something from one end toward the other
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading "So would you, if you had heard what I did."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You don't mean that some of the gang is down there?"
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading You don't mean that some of the gang is down there?"
(of persons) excessively affected by emotion
From this reading "You seem excited."
cause to be firmly attached
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
an association of criminals
From this reading You don't mean that some of the gang is down there?"
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "So would you, if you had heard what I did."
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading "So would you, if you had heard what I did."
moving with great haste
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "So would you, if you had heard what I did."
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading "So would you, if you had heard what I did."
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading You don't mean that some of the gang is down there?"
a boy or man
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading You don't mean that some of the gang is down there?"
a form of address for a man
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading You don't mean that some of the gang is down there?"
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
a precautionary measure warding off impending danger or damage or injury etc.
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
a protective covering that covers or forms the top of a building
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
to move about or proceed hurriedly
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading "You seem excited."
(of something seen or heard) clearly defined
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading "So would you, if you had heard what I did."
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading You don't mean that some of the gang is down there?"
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading You don't mean that some of the gang is down there?"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
in or at that place or location
From this reading You don't mean that some of the gang is down there?"
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
male cat
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
a track or mark left by something that has passed
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
(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 On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "So would you, if you had heard what I did."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading On The Trail "What's the matter, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp, as the lad came hurrying along the roof, having taken the precaution to fasten the scuttle door as well as he could.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading "So would you, if you had heard what I did."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You seem excited."
Chapter 21 of Tom Swift and His Airship by Victor Appleton holds 75 sentences, grouped into 15 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 21 holds 75 sentences of Tom Swift and His Airship, unabridged, divided into 15 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of Tom Swift and His Airship by Victor Appleton exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 75 sentences, grouped into 15 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 15 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 15 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 21 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.
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Yes. All 3029 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3005 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3005, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 252 minutes of reading across 606 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Tom Swift and His Airship section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of Tom Swift and His Airship 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 Tom Swift and His Airship, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
