Chapter 17 of A Man's World is here in full — 365 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of A Man's World is here in full — 365 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist. I knew he was leaning that way. He is an artist. Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union. Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.
Chapter 17 of A Man's World is here in full — 365 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/73 · 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.
an anniversary of the day on which a person was born (or the celebration of it)
From this reading “On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.”
United States industrialist who built the first American locomotive; founded Cooper Union in New York City to offer free courses in the arts and sciences (1791-1883)
From this reading “Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.”
look down on with disdain
From this reading “Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.”
coming next after the seventeenth in position
From this reading “On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.”
plural of “medal” — an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event
From this reading “Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.”
plural of “pretend” — the enactment of a pretense
From this reading “Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.”
plural of “prize” — something given for victory or superiority in a contest or competition or for winning a lottery
From this reading “Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.”
a political advocate of socialism
From this reading “On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.”
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 “On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.”
a trophy made of gold (or having the appearance of gold) that is usually awarded for winning first place in a competition
In this reading “Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.”
In this reading “Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.”
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 On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading He is an artist.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination
From this reading He is an artist.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
a short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.
an anniversary of the day on which a person was born (or the celebration of it)
From this reading On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.
the act of delivering or distributing something (as goods or mail)
From this reading Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.
lacking funds
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
plural of “class” — a collection of things sharing a common attribute
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
the body of faculty and students of a college
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
United States industrialist who built the first American locomotive; founded Cooper Union in New York City to offer free courses in the arts and sciences (1791-1883)
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
look down on with disdain
From this reading Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.
coming next after the seventeenth in position
From this reading On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
coins made of gold
From this reading Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading I knew he was leaning that way.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He is an artist.
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 I knew he was leaning that way.
departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal
From this reading I knew he was leaning that way.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.
plural of “medal” — an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event
From this reading Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.
plural of “pretend” — the enactment of a pretense
From this reading Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.
plural of “prize” — something given for victory or superiority in a contest or competition or for winning a lottery
From this reading Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.
a political advocate of socialism
From this reading On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I knew he was leaning that way.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
being four more than twenty
From this reading Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.
an organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading Ann wanted him to go to college, but he broke away to the classes at Cooper Union.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading I knew he was leaning that way.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Now at twenty-four he is bringing home prizes and gold medals which he pretends to despise.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading On his eighteenth birthday, Billy asked me why I was not a socialist.
Chapter 17 of A Man's World by Albert Edwards holds 365 sentences, grouped into 73 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 17 holds 365 sentences of A Man's World, unabridged, divided into 73 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of A Man's World by Albert Edwards exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 365 sentences, grouped into 73 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 73 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 73 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 17 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 Man's World by Albert Edwards on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6782 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #44878 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #44878, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 565 minutes of reading across 1357 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Man's World section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of A Man's World 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 Man's World, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
