Chapter 1 of A Likely Story is here in full — 507 sentences across 102 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of A Likely Story is here in full — 507 sentences across 102 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BY W. D. HOWELLS. Harper's "Black and White" Series. Illustrated. 32mo, Cloth, 50 cents each. _LATEST ISSUES:_ FIVE O'CLOCK TEA.
Chapter 1 of A Likely Story is here in full — 507 sentences across 102 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/101 · 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.
plural of “cent” — a fractional monetary unit of several countries
From this reading “32mo, Cloth, 50 cents each.”
artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers
From this reading “32mo, Cloth, 50 cents each.”
possessive form of “harper” — someone who plays the harp
From this reading “Harper's "Black and White" Series.”
United States writer and editor (1837-1920)
From this reading “BY W. D. HOWELLS.”
past form of “illustrate” — clarify by giving an example of
From this reading “Illustrated.”
plural of “issue” — an important question that is in dispute and must be settled
From this reading “_LATEST ISSUES:_ FIVE O'CLOCK TEA.”
up to the immediate present; most recent or most up-to-date
similar things placed in order or happening one after another
From this reading “Harper's "Black and White" Series.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 32mo, Cloth, 50 cents each.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 32mo, Cloth, 50 cents each.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Harper's "Black and White" Series.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading Harper's "Black and White" Series.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading BY W. D. HOWELLS.
plural of “cent” — a fractional monetary unit of several countries
From this reading 32mo, Cloth, 50 cents each.
artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers
From this reading 32mo, Cloth, 50 cents each.
a fat-soluble vitamin that prevents rickets
From this reading BY W. D. HOWELLS.
every one of two or more people or things, taken separately
From this reading 32mo, Cloth, 50 cents each.
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading _LATEST ISSUES:_ FIVE O'CLOCK TEA.
possessive form of “harper” — someone who plays the harp
From this reading Harper's "Black and White" Series.
United States writer and editor (1837-1920)
From this reading BY W. D. HOWELLS.
past form of “illustrate” — clarify by giving an example of
From this reading Illustrated.
plural of “issue” — an important question that is in dispute and must be settled
From this reading _LATEST ISSUES:_ FIVE O'CLOCK TEA.
up to the immediate present; most recent or most up-to-date
From this reading _LATEST ISSUES:_ FIVE O'CLOCK TEA.
an indefinitely short time
From this reading 32mo, Cloth, 50 cents each.
according to the clock
From this reading _LATEST ISSUES:_ FIVE O'CLOCK TEA.
similar things placed in order or happening one after another
From this reading Harper's "Black and White" Series.
a beverage made by steeping tea leaves in water
From this reading _LATEST ISSUES:_ FIVE O'CLOCK TEA.
a heavy grey-white metallic element; the pure form is used mainly in electrical applications; it is found in several ores including wolframite and scheelite
From this reading BY W. D. HOWELLS.
a Caucasian
From this reading Harper's "Black and White" Series.
Chapter 1 of A Likely Story by William Dean Howells holds 507 sentences, grouped into 102 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 507 sentences of A Likely Story, unabridged, divided into 102 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of A Likely Story by William Dean Howells exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 507 sentences, grouped into 102 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 102 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 102 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 Likely Story by William Dean Howells on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 992 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #28305 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #28305, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 82 minutes of reading across 199 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Likely Story section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of A Likely 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 Likely Story, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
