Chapter II of Tom Swift and his great oil gusher, “Almost a Tragedy,” is here in full — 124 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter II of Tom Swift and his great oil gusher, “Almost a Tragedy,” is here in full — 124 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation. “It isn’t the woods on fire,” cried Tom. “They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago. It’s the plane that’s blazing.” “And that poor fellow perhaps is being burned to death!” cried Ned.
Chapter II of Tom Swift and his great oil gusher, “Almost a Tragedy,” is here in full — 124 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/24 · 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.
shining intensely
From this reading “It’s the plane that’s blazing.””
treated by heating to a high temperature but below the melting or fusing point
From this reading ““And that poor fellow perhaps is being burned to death!” cried Ned.”
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading “TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.”
the act of making something completely wet
From this reading ““They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.”
an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets
From this reading “It’s the plane that’s blazing.””
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading “TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.”
behave violently, as if in state of a great anger
From this reading ““They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.”
moving very fast
From this reading “TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.”
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 ““And that poor fellow perhaps is being burned to death!” cried Ned.”
In this reading ““They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.”
temporarily
In this reading “TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.”
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 TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.
in the past
From this reading “They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading “And that poor fellow perhaps is being burned to death!” cried Ned.
in addition to; as well as
From this reading “They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.
shining intensely
From this reading It’s the plane that’s blazing.”
treated by heating to a high temperature but below the melting or fusing point
From this reading “And that poor fellow perhaps is being burned to death!” cried Ned.
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading “It isn’t the woods on fire,” cried Tom.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading “They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading “And that poor fellow perhaps is being burned to death!” cried Ned.
the act of making something completely wet
From this reading “They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.
a boy or man
From this reading “And that poor fellow perhaps is being burned to death!” cried Ned.
start firing a weapon
From this reading “It isn’t the woods on fire,” cried Tom.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.
green color or pigment; resembling the color of growing grass
From this reading “They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading “They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “And that poor fellow perhaps is being burned to death!” cried Ned.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “It isn’t the woods on fire,” cried Tom.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “It isn’t the woods on fire,” cried Tom.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It’s the plane that’s blazing.”
a particular point in time
From this reading TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “And that poor fellow perhaps is being burned to death!” cried Ned.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading “It isn’t the woods on fire,” cried Tom.
by chance
From this reading “And that poor fellow perhaps is being burned to death!” cried Ned.
an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets
From this reading It’s the plane that’s blazing.”
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading “And that poor fellow perhaps is being burned to death!” cried Ned.
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.
behave violently, as if in state of a great anger
From this reading “They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.
moving very fast
From this reading TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It’s the plane that’s blazing.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “And that poor fellow perhaps is being burned to death!” cried Ned.
male cat
From this reading TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading “They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading “They’re too green for that; and besides we had a drenching storm two days ago.
in the company of; together with
From this reading TOM SWIFT and the two with him stared for a moment in consternation.
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading “It isn’t the woods on fire,” cried Tom.
Chapter 2 of Tom Swift and his great oil gusher by Victor Appleton holds 124 sentences, grouped into 25 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 2 holds 124 sentences of Tom Swift and his great oil gusher, unabridged, divided into 25 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Tom Swift and his great oil gusher by Victor Appleton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 124 sentences, grouped into 25 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 25 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 25 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 2 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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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 Tom Swift and his great oil gusher section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Tom Swift and his great oil gusher, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
