Chapter 2 of When the Spoilers Came is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of When the Spoilers Came is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"There may be difficulties," the father said. "We expect them. So what?" Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm. "If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."
Chapter 2 of When the Spoilers Came is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
large or big relative to something else
From this reading “"If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."”
plural of “difficulty” — an effort that is inconvenient
From this reading “"There may be difficulties," the father said.”
hinge joint between the forearm and upper arm and the corresponding joint in the forelimb of a quadruped
From this reading “Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.”
motion of hands or body to emphasize or help to express a thought or feeling
From this reading “Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.”
past form of “gesture” — show, express or direct through movement
From this reading “Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.”
plural of “gun” — a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading “Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.”
enclosed in the same envelope or package
From this reading “Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.”
the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
From this reading “"If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."”
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 “Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.”
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 Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
in addition
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "There may be difficulties," the father said.
large or big relative to something else
From this reading "If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."
inflected form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
plural of “difficulty” — an effort that is inconvenient
From this reading "There may be difficulties," the father said.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."
hinge joint between the forearm and upper arm and the corresponding joint in the forelimb of a quadruped
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
regard something as probable or likely
From this reading "We expect them.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading "There may be difficulties," the father said.
motion of hands or body to emphasize or help to express a thought or feeling
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
past form of “gesture” — show, express or direct through movement
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."
a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
plural of “gun” — a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading "If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
enclosed in the same envelope or package
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
From this reading "If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading "There may be difficulties," the father said.
the force of workers available
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "There may be difficulties," the father said.
transport commercially
From this reading "If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So what?"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "There may be difficulties," the father said.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading "We expect them.
in or at that place or location
From this reading "There may be difficulties," the father said.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading "If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading "If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "We expect them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "If these don't do the job, we've got bigger things on the ship."
used to ask for information about something
From this reading So what?"
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Roy Larkin gestured at the men with him, a gesture which also included the _Kell_ guns they carried and which included the _Kell_ gun held in the elbow of his left arm.
Chapter 2 of When the Spoilers Came by Robert Moore Williams holds 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 415 sentences of When the Spoilers Came, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of When the Spoilers Came by Robert Moore Williams exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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.
Common questions about reading When the Spoilers Came by Robert Moore Williams on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 834 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #64667 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #64667, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 69 minutes of reading across 167 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through When the Spoilers Came section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of When the Spoilers Came 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 When the Spoilers Came, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
