Chapter 15 of A Life's Secret: A Novel is here in full — 281 sentences across 57 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of A Life's Secret: A Novel is here in full — 281 sentences across 57 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MR. COX. Time had gone on. It was a gloomy winter's evening. Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
Chapter 15 of A Life's Secret: A Novel is here in full — 281 sentences across 57 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/56 · 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.
processing that involves blowing a gas
From this reading “Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.”
either of two related enzymes that control the production of prostaglandins and are blocked by aspirin
From this reading “COX.”
depressingly dark
From this reading “It was a gloomy winter's evening.”
(of weather) wet by periods of rain
From this reading “Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.”
problem solving that involves numbers or quantities
From this reading “Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.”
plural of “season” — a period of the year marked by special events or activities in some field
From this reading “Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.”
lacking neatness or order
From this reading “Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.”
possessive form of “winter” — the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading “It was a gloomy winter's evening.”
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 “It was a gloomy winter's evening.”
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 It was a gloomy winter's evening.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
processing that involves blowing a gas
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
either of two related enzymes that control the production of prostaglandins and are blocked by aspirin
From this reading COX.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading It was a gloomy winter's evening.
the act of acquiring something
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
depressingly dark
From this reading It was a gloomy winter's evening.
destroyed or killed
From this reading Time had gone on.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Time had gone on.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a gloomy winter's evening.
a form of address for a man
From this reading MR.
near in time or place or relationship
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Time had gone on.
(of weather) wet by periods of rain
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
problem solving that involves numbers or quantities
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
plural of “season” — a period of the year marked by special events or activities in some field
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
lacking neatness or order
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Time had gone on.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was a gloomy winter's evening.
the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
possessive form of “winter” — the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading It was a gloomy winter's evening.
but in spite of that
From this reading Not that, reckoning by the seasons, it could be called winter yet; but it was getting near it, and the night was dark and sloppy, and blowing and rainy.
Chapter 15 of A Life's Secret: A Novel by Henry, Mrs. Wood holds 281 sentences, grouped into 57 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 15 holds 281 sentences of A Life's Secret: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 57 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of A Life's Secret: A Novel by Henry, Mrs. Wood exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 281 sentences, grouped into 57 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 57 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 57 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 15 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 Life's Secret: A Novel by Henry, Mrs. Wood on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6641 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #38832 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #38832, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 553 minutes of reading across 1329 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Life's Secret: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of A Life's Secret: A Novel 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 Life's Secret: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
