Chapter 18 of A Top-Floor Idyl is here in full — 225 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of A Top-Floor Idyl is here in full — 225 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her. "I am afraid that the colored maid is little accustomed to social usages. There is a little parlor downstairs." "Oh! It's all right, Mr. Cole.
Chapter 18 of A Top-Floor Idyl is here in full — 225 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/45 · 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.
used as intensifiers
From this reading “DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.”
a hardy cabbage with coarse curly leaves that do not form a head
From this reading “It's all right, Mr. Cole.”
having color or a certain color; sometimes used in combination
From this reading “"I am afraid that the colored maid is little accustomed to social usages.”
English aristocrat who was the first wife of Prince Charles; her death in an automobile accident in Paris produced intense national mourning (1961-1997)
From this reading “DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.”
on a floor below
From this reading “There is a little parlor downstairs."”
plural of “mortal” — a human being
From this reading “DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.”
reception room in an inn or club where visitors can be received
From this reading “There is a little parlor downstairs."”
plural of “usage” — the act of using
From this reading “"I am afraid that the colored maid is little accustomed to social usages.”
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 “DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.”
In this reading “There is a little parlor downstairs."”
In this reading “DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.”
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 There is a little parlor downstairs."
commonly used or practiced; usual
From this reading "I am afraid that the colored maid is little accustomed to social usages.
filled with fear or apprehension
From this reading "I am afraid that the colored maid is little accustomed to social usages.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
surrounded by; in the middle of a group
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
used as intensifiers
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
a hardy cabbage with coarse curly leaves that do not form a head
From this reading It's all right, Mr. Cole.
having color or a certain color; sometimes used in combination
From this reading "I am afraid that the colored maid is little accustomed to social usages.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
English aristocrat who was the first wife of Prince Charles; her death in an automobile accident in Paris produced intense national mourning (1961-1997)
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
on a floor below
From this reading There is a little parlor downstairs."
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "I am afraid that the colored maid is little accustomed to social usages.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's all right, Mr. Cole.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "I am afraid that the colored maid is little accustomed to social usages.
a female domestic
From this reading "I am afraid that the colored maid is little accustomed to social usages.
plural of “mortal” — a human being
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
a form of address for a man
From this reading It's all right, Mr. Cole.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "Oh!
reception room in an inn or club where visitors can be received
From this reading There is a little parlor downstairs."
precisely, exactly
From this reading It's all right, Mr. Cole.
relating to human society and its members
From this reading "I am afraid that the colored maid is little accustomed to social usages.
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There is a little parlor downstairs."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "I am afraid that the colored maid is little accustomed to social usages.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
a source of difficulty
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
plural of “usage” — the act of using
From this reading "I am afraid that the colored maid is little accustomed to social usages.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading DIANA AMONG MORTALS "I am awfully sorry that you took the trouble of coming all the way up here," I told her.
Chapter 18 of A Top-Floor Idyl by George Van Schaick holds 225 sentences, grouped into 45 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 18 holds 225 sentences of A Top-Floor Idyl, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of A Top-Floor Idyl by George Van Schaick exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 225 sentences, grouped into 45 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 45 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 45 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 18 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 Top-Floor Idyl by George Van Schaick on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5186 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33218 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33218, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 432 minutes of reading across 1038 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Top-Floor Idyl section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of A Top-Floor Idyl 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 Top-Floor Idyl, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
