Chapter 11 of What Is Man? and Other Essays is here in full — 140 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XI
Chapter 11 of What Is Man? and Other Essays is here in full — 140 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit. O.M. What originated the habit? Y.M. The first animal started it, its descendants have inherited it. O.M. How did the first one come to start it? Y.M. I don’t know; but it didn’t _think _it out.
Chapter 11 of What Is Man? and Other Essays is here in full — 140 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 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.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading “Y.M. The first animal started it, its descendants have inherited it.”
all of the offspring of a given progenitor
From this reading “Y.M. The first animal started it, its descendants have inherited it.”
the activity of exerting your muscles in various ways to keep fit
From this reading “Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.”
an established custom
From this reading “Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.”
occurring among members of a family usually by heredity
From this reading “Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.”
using (or as if using) mechanisms or tools or devices
From this reading “Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.”
past form of “originate” — come into existence; take on form or shape
From this reading “O.M. What originated the habit?”
not exhibiting or characterized by careful thought
From this reading “Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading Y.M. The first animal started it, its descendants have inherited it.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Y.M. I don’t know; but it didn’t _think _it out.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading O.M. How did the first one come to start it?
all of the offspring of a given progenitor
From this reading Y.M. The first animal started it, its descendants have inherited it.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading O.M. How did the first one come to start it?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Y.M. I don’t know; but it didn’t _think _it out.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Y.M. I don’t know; but it didn’t _think _it out.
the activity of exerting your muscles in various ways to keep fit
From this reading Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Y.M. The first animal started it, its descendants have inherited it.
an established custom
From this reading Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Y.M. The first animal started it, its descendants have inherited it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O.M. How did the first one come to start it?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Y.M. I don’t know; but it didn’t _think _it out.
occurring among members of a family usually by heredity
From this reading Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Y.M. The first animal started it, its descendants have inherited it.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Y.M. I don’t know; but it didn’t _think _it out.
the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards)
From this reading Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.
using (or as if using) mechanisms or tools or devices
From this reading Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.
and nothing more
From this reading Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading O.M. What originated the habit?
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading O.M. How did the first one come to start it?
past form of “originate” — come into existence; take on form or shape
From this reading O.M. What originated the habit?
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Y.M. I don’t know; but it didn’t _think _it out.
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading O.M. How did the first one come to start it?
past form of “start” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Y.M. The first animal started it, its descendants have inherited it.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading O.M. What originated the habit?
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading Y.M. I don’t know; but it didn’t _think _it out.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading O.M. How did the first one come to start it?
not exhibiting or characterized by careful thought
From this reading Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading O.M. What originated the habit?
a silvery metallic element that is common in rare-earth minerals; used in magnesium and aluminum alloys
From this reading Y.M. It is merely unthinking and mechanical exercise of inherited habit.
Chapter 11 of What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain holds 140 sentences, grouped into 28 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 11 holds 140 sentences of What Is Man? and Other Essays, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 11 of What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 140 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 11 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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About 432 minutes of reading across 1038 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in What Is Man? and Other Essays, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
