Chapter 1 of Tony and the Beetles is here in full — 599 sentences across 120 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Tony and the Beetles is here in full — 599 sentences across 120 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment. Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly. With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor. He clicked off his alarm clock and hurried to the closet. It looked like a nice day.
Chapter 1 of Tony and the Beetles is here in full — 599 sentences across 120 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/119 · 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.
past form of “click” — move or strike with a noise
From this reading “He clicked off his alarm clock and hurried to the closet.”
a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space
From this reading “He clicked off his alarm clock and hurried to the closet.”
plural of “cover” — a covering that serves to conceal or shelter something
From this reading “With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.”
past form of “filter” — remove by passing through a filter
From this reading “Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment.”
any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc.
From this reading “With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.”
colorless glass made of almost pure silica
From this reading “Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment.”
inflected form of “slide” — move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner
From this reading “With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.”
past form of “yawn” — utter a yawn, as from lack of oxygen or when one is tired
From this reading “Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.”
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.
a clock that wakes a sleeper at some preset time
In this reading “He clicked off his alarm clock and hurried to the closet.”
In this reading “Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment.”
In this reading “Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.”
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 Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading He clicked off his alarm clock and hurried to the closet.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
past form of “click” — move or strike with a noise
From this reading He clicked off his alarm clock and hurried to the closet.
a timepiece that shows the time of day
From this reading He clicked off his alarm clock and hurried to the closet.
a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space
From this reading He clicked off his alarm clock and hurried to the closet.
plural of “cover” — a covering that serves to conceal or shelter something
From this reading With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading It looked like a nice day.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
past form of “filter” — remove by passing through a filter
From this reading Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment.
the inside lower horizontal surface (as of a room, hallway, tent, or other structure)
From this reading With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
moving rapidly or performed quickly or in great haste
From this reading He clicked off his alarm clock and hurried to the closet.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It looked like a nice day.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading It looked like a nice day.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading It looked like a nice day.
any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc.
From this reading With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.
the use of movements (especially of the hands) to communicate familiar or prearranged signals
From this reading With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
From this reading It looked like a nice day.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading He clicked off his alarm clock and hurried to the closet.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
colorless glass made of almost pure silica
From this reading Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment.
with speed
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment.
inflected form of “slide” — move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner
From this reading With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.
being excited or provoked to the expression of an emotion
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
the rays of the sun
From this reading Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
From this reading Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
past form of “toss” — throw or toss with a light motion
From this reading With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.
(trademark) an operating system with a graphical user interface
From this reading Reddish-yellow sunlight filtered through the thick quartz windows into the sleep-compartment.
in the company of; together with
From this reading With one motion he tossed the covers back and slid to the warm metal floor.
past form of “yawn” — utter a yawn, as from lack of oxygen or when one is tired
From this reading Tony Rossi yawned, stirred a little, then opened his black eyes and sat up quickly.
Chapter 1 of Tony and the Beetles by Philip K. Dick holds 599 sentences, grouped into 120 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 1 holds 599 sentences of Tony and the Beetles, unabridged, divided into 120 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Tony and the Beetles by Philip K. Dick exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 599 sentences, grouped into 120 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 120 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 120 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 1 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 Tony and the Beetles by Philip K. Dick on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 599 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40964 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40964, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 49 minutes of reading across 120 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Tony and the Beetles section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of Tony and the Beetles 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 Tony and the Beetles, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
