Chapter 5 of A Boy's Fortune is here in full — 110 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of A Boy's Fortune is here in full — 110 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A YOUNG DUDE. Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing. "My uncle must be a very rich man," he said to himself. "Surely he can find a place for me in so large a store." "Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.
Chapter 5 of A Boy's Fortune is here in full — 110 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/22 · 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 covering designed to be worn on a person's body
From this reading “Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.”
plural of “counter” — table consisting of a horizontal surface over which business is transacted
From this reading “Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.”
an informal form of address for a man
From this reading “A YOUNG DUDE.”
-ing form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading “Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.”
a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength
From this reading “"Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.”
filled with a great quantity
From this reading “Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.”
venous swelling external or internal to the anal sphincter
From this reading “Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.”
light soft moderately strong wood of spruce trees; used especially for timbers and millwork
From this reading “"Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.”
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 teenager or a young adult male
In this reading “"Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.”
a man who is wealthy
In this reading “"My uncle must be a very rich man," he said to himself.”
In this reading “Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.”
In this reading “"Surely he can find a place for me in so large a store."”
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 A YOUNG DUDE.
a feeling of delighted approval and liking
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading "Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "My uncle must be a very rich man," he said to himself.
a mountain or tall hill
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
From this reading "Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading "Surely he can find a place for me in so large a store."
a covering designed to be worn on a person's body
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading "Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.
plural of “counter” — table consisting of a horizontal surface over which business is transacted
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.
an informal form of address for a man
From this reading A YOUNG DUDE.
past form of “enter” — to come or go into
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading "Surely he can find a place for me in so large a store."
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "Surely he can find a place for me in so large a store."
at or to or toward the front
From this reading "Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.
-ing form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "My uncle must be a very rich man," he said to himself.
a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength
From this reading "Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading "My uncle must be a very rich man," he said to himself.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "Surely he can find a place for me in so large a store."
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "Surely he can find a place for me in so large a store."
filled with a great quantity
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading "My uncle must be a very rich man," he said to himself.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "Surely he can find a place for me in so large a store."
come together
From this reading "Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading "My uncle must be a very rich man," he said to himself.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "My uncle must be a very rich man," he said to himself.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading "Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.
venous swelling external or internal to the anal sphincter
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading "Surely he can find a place for me in so large a store."
possessing material wealth
From this reading "My uncle must be a very rich man," he said to himself.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "My uncle must be a very rich man," he said to himself.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading "Surely he can find a place for me in so large a store."
light soft moderately strong wood of spruce trees; used especially for timbers and millwork
From this reading "Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.
a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
be agreeable or acceptable to
From this reading "Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading "Surely he can find a place for me in so large a store."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "My uncle must be a very rich man," he said to himself.
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading "My uncle must be a very rich man," he said to himself.
precisely as stated
From this reading "My uncle must be a very rich man," he said to himself.
hope for; have a wish
From this reading "Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading Ben entered the great store, gazing not without admiration at the long counters loaded with piles of clothing.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Do you wish to buy a suit?" asked a spruce young man, coming forward to meet our hero.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading A YOUNG DUDE.
Chapter 5 of A Boy's Fortune by Horatio, Jr. Alger holds 110 sentences, grouped into 22 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 110 sentences of A Boy's Fortune, unabridged, divided into 22 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of A Boy's Fortune by Horatio, Jr. Alger exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 110 sentences, grouped into 22 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 22 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 22 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 A Boy's Fortune by Horatio, Jr. Alger on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4381 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #52017 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #52017, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 365 minutes of reading across 877 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Boy's Fortune section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of A Boy's Fortune 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 A Boy's Fortune, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
