Chapter 5 of Venus Equilateral is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Venus Equilateral is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper. Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating. "I've been thinking," said Franks. "Beginner's luck?" asked Don with a wry smile. "I hope not.
Chapter 5 of Venus Equilateral is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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 the most contemptible kind
From this reading “At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.”
possessive form of “beginner” — someone new to a field or activity
From this reading “"Beginner's luck?" asked Don with a wry smile.”
acting with a specific goal
From this reading “Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.”
plural of “frank” — a member of the ancient Germanic peoples who spread from the Rhine into the Roman Empire in the 4th century
From this reading “At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.”
a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge
From this reading “At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.”
a person who is of equal standing with another in a group
From this reading “Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.”
write down quickly without much attention to detail
From this reading “At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.”
humorously sarcastic or mocking
From this reading “"Beginner's luck?" asked Don with a wry smile.”
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 “At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.”
communicate the intended meaning or impression
In this reading “Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.”
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 At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
of the most contemptible kind
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading "Beginner's luck?" asked Don with a wry smile.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
for the reason that
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading "I've been thinking," said Franks.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
possessive form of “beginner” — someone new to a field or activity
From this reading "Beginner's luck?" asked Don with a wry smile.
acting with a specific goal
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
a Spanish gentleman or nobleman
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
an act that fails
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
produced by or subjected to forcing
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
plural of “frank” — a member of the ancient Germanic peoples who spread from the Rhine into the Roman Empire in the 4th century
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
a specific instance of feeling hopeful
From this reading "I hope not.
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I hope not.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I've been thinking," said Franks.
your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
From this reading "Beginner's luck?" asked Don with a wry smile.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "I hope not.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
above and across; more than
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
a person who is of equal standing with another in a group
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "I've been thinking," said Franks.
write down quickly without much attention to detail
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
lift onto one's shoulders
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading "Beginner's luck?" asked Don with a wry smile.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
the process of using your mind to consider something carefully
From this reading "I've been thinking," said Franks.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading At the end of the next hour of abject failure, Walt Franks began to scribble on a pad of paper.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Don came over to peer over Franks' shoulder, and because he couldn't read Walt's mind, he was forced to ask what the engineer was calculating.
in the company of; together with
From this reading "Beginner's luck?" asked Don with a wry smile.
humorously sarcastic or mocking
From this reading "Beginner's luck?" asked Don with a wry smile.
Chapter 5 of Venus Equilateral by George O. (George Oliver) Smith holds 408 sentences, grouped into 82 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 5 holds 408 sentences of Venus Equilateral, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Venus Equilateral by George O. (George Oliver) Smith exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 408 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 5 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 Venus Equilateral by George O. (George Oliver) Smith on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
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 Venus Equilateral section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Venus Equilateral 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 Venus Equilateral, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
