Chapter 1 of A Double Barrelled Detective Story is here in full — 627 sentences across 126 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of A Double Barrelled Detective Story is here in full — 627 sentences across 126 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Hearing, maybe. Instinct, maybe. Magic, maybe. Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price. Now I'll tell you what he can do.
Chapter 1 of A Double Barrelled Detective Story is here in full — 627 sentences across 126 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 104/125 · 5 reading units · Lines 516–520
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.
the person or thing chosen or selected
From this reading “Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.”
plural of “grownup” — a fully developed person from maturity onward
From this reading “Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.”
inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to specific stimuli
From this reading “Instinct, maybe.”
any art that invokes supernatural powers
From this reading “Magic, maybe.”
by chance
From this reading “Hearing, maybe.”
the property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold)
From this reading “Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.”
plural of “servant” — a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
From this reading “Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.”
being five more than twenty
From this reading “Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.”
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 Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Now I'll tell you what he can do.
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.
the person or thing chosen or selected
From this reading Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Now I'll tell you what he can do.
plural of “grownup” — a fully developed person from maturity onward
From this reading Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Now I'll tell you what he can do.
(law) a proceeding (usually by a court) where evidence is taken for the purpose of determining an issue of fact and reaching a decision based on that evidence
From this reading Hearing, maybe.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Now I'll tell you what he can do.
inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to specific stimuli
From this reading Instinct, maybe.
any art that invokes supernatural powers
From this reading Magic, maybe.
by chance
From this reading Hearing, maybe.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now I'll tell you what he can do.
the property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold)
From this reading Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.
plural of “servant” — a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
From this reading Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.
carry out
From this reading Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.
express in words
From this reading Now I'll tell you what he can do.
being five more than twenty
From this reading Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Now I'll tell you what he can do.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Now I'll tell you what he can do.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Take your choice--grownups, twenty-five; children and servants, half price.
Chapter 1 of A Double Barrelled Detective Story by Mark Twain holds 627 sentences, grouped into 126 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 1 holds 627 sentences of A Double Barrelled Detective Story, unabridged, divided into 126 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of A Double Barrelled Detective Story by Mark Twain exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 627 sentences, grouped into 126 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 126 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 126 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 1 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 Double Barrelled Detective Story by Mark Twain on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1257 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3180 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3180, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 104 minutes of reading across 252 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Double Barrelled Detective Story section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of A Double Barrelled Detective Story 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 Double Barrelled Detective Story, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
