Chapter 12 of A Crooked Mile is here in full — 377 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of A Crooked Mile is here in full — 377 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"I--I didn't know," she said stupidly. "No." "You--you mean you--knew him?----" "Oh ... oh yes." Amory said again that she hadn't known.... "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
Chapter 12 of A Crooked Mile is here in full — 377 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/75 · 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.
using the voice; not silently
From this reading “"Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?”
utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading “"Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?”
apprehended with certainty
From this reading “Amory said again that she hadn't known....”
found pleasant or attractive; often used as a combining form
From this reading “"Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?”
plural of “matter” — a vaguely specified concern
From this reading “"Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?”
in a stupid manner
From this reading “"I--I didn't know," she said stupidly.”
an exchange of ideas via conversation
From this reading “"Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?”
(comparative of “bad”) inferior to another in quality or condition or desirability
From this reading “"Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?”
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 “"Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
anew
From this reading Amory said again that she hadn't known....
using the voice; not silently
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Amory said again that she hadn't known....
showing who or what does the action
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I--I didn't know," she said stupidly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Amory said again that she hadn't known....
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "You--you mean you--knew him?----" "Oh ... oh yes."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I--I didn't know," she said stupidly.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "You--you mean you--knew him?----" "Oh ... oh yes."
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "I--I didn't know," she said stupidly.
apprehended with certainty
From this reading Amory said again that she hadn't known....
found pleasant or attractive; often used as a combining form
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
engage in
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
plural of “matter” — a vaguely specified concern
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading "You--you mean you--knew him?----" "Oh ... oh yes."
not any; not one
From this reading "No."
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "You--you mean you--knew him?----" "Oh ... oh yes."
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "I--I didn't know," she said stupidly.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "I--I didn't know," she said stupidly.
in a stupid manner
From this reading "I--I didn't know," she said stupidly.
an exchange of ideas via conversation
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Amory said again that she hadn't known....
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
(comparative of “bad”) inferior to another in quality or condition or desirability
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading "Then why," Dorothy would have liked to cry aloud, "_have_ you come, if it isn't to make matters worse by talking about it?
an affirmative
From this reading "You--you mean you--knew him?----" "Oh ... oh yes."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You--you mean you--knew him?----" "Oh ... oh yes."
Chapter 12 of A Crooked Mile by Oliver Onions holds 377 sentences, grouped into 76 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 12 holds 377 sentences of A Crooked Mile, unabridged, divided into 76 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of A Crooked Mile by Oliver Onions exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 377 sentences, grouped into 76 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 76 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 76 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 12 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 Crooked Mile by Oliver Onions on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4800 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #37584 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #37584, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 400 minutes of reading across 960 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Crooked Mile section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of A Crooked Mile 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 Crooked Mile, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
