Chapter 3 of A Laodicean : A Story of To-day is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of A Laodicean : A Story of To-day is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
‘That railway. He was Mr. John Power, the great railway contractor. And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’ ‘A clash between ancient and modern.’ ‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.
Chapter 3 of A Laodicean : A Story of To-day is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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 violent confrontation or disagreement between opposing forces or factions.
From this reading “‘A clash between ancient and modern.’”
someone (a person or firm) who contracts to build things
From this reading “He was Mr. John Power, the great railway contractor.”
pleasantly occupied
From this reading “And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’”
everything you own; all of your assets (whether real property or personal property) and liabilities
From this reading “‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.”
a surrounding or nearby region
From this reading “‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.”
belonging to the modern era; since the Middle Ages
From this reading “‘A clash between ancient and modern.’”
past form of “purchase” — obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
From this reading “‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.”
line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight
From this reading “‘That railway.”
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 And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’
a record or narrative description of past events
From this reading And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading ‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.
Belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence or deeply revered.
From this reading ‘A clash between ancient and modern.’
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’
earlier than; in front of
From this reading ‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading ‘A clash between ancient and modern.’
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading ‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.
a large and stately mansion
From this reading And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’
A violent confrontation or disagreement between opposing forces or factions.
From this reading ‘A clash between ancient and modern.’
someone (a person or firm) who contracts to build things
From this reading He was Mr. John Power, the great railway contractor.
discovered or determined by scientific observation
From this reading And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’
pleasantly occupied
From this reading And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’
everything you own; all of your assets (whether real property or personal property) and liabilities
From this reading ‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading He was Mr. John Power, the great railway contractor.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was Mr. John Power, the great railway contractor.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading ‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.
a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something
From this reading ‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading He was Mr. John Power, the great railway contractor.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’
a surrounding or nearby region
From this reading ‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.
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 ‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.
the act that results in something coming to be
From this reading And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’
belonging to the modern era; since the Middle Ages
From this reading ‘A clash between ancient and modern.’
a form of address for a man
From this reading He was Mr. John Power, the great railway contractor.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’
possession of controlling influence
From this reading He was Mr. John Power, the great railway contractor.
past form of “purchase” — obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
From this reading ‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.
line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight
From this reading ‘That railway.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading ‘That railway.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He was Mr. John Power, the great railway contractor.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading And it was through making the railway that he discovered this castle--the railway was diverted a little on its account.’
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading ‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was Mr. John Power, the great railway contractor.
an affirmative
From this reading ‘Yes, but he took an interest in the locality long before he purchased the estate.
Chapter 3 of A Laodicean : A Story of To-day by Thomas Hardy holds 185 sentences, grouped into 37 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 3 holds 185 sentences of A Laodicean : A Story of To-day, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of A Laodicean : A Story of To-day by Thomas Hardy exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 185 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 3 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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Yes. All 7249 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3258 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3258, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1450 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Laodicean : A Story of To-day section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of A Laodicean : A Story of To-day 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 Laodicean : A Story of To-day, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
