Chapter 2 of A Veldt Official: A Novel of Circumstance is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of A Veldt Official: A Novel of Circumstance is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Not young, eh! That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change. I believe I'm beginning to have enough of boys." "Oh, poor Mr Watkins! Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
Chapter 2 of A Veldt Official: A Novel of Circumstance is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading “I believe I'm beginning to have enough of boys."”
having ones attention or mind or energy engaged
From this reading “Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."”
arousing or holding the attention
From this reading “That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change.”
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading “That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change.”
an island to the northwest of Wales
From this reading “Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."”
-ing form of “prepare” — make ready or suitable or equip in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc
From this reading “Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."”
a person who follows next in order
From this reading “Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."”
propel through the air
From this reading “Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."”
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.
a large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments); different names are used in different sections of the United States
In this reading “Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."”
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 That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading I believe I'm beginning to have enough of boys."
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading I believe I'm beginning to have enough of boys."
a youthful male person
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading I believe I'm beginning to have enough of boys."
cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
From this reading That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Not young, eh!
having ones attention or mind or energy engaged
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading I believe I'm beginning to have enough of boys."
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change.
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I believe I'm beginning to have enough of boys."
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I believe I'm beginning to have enough of boys."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I believe I'm beginning to have enough of boys."
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change.
arousing or holding the attention
From this reading That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change.
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change.
an island to the northwest of Wales
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change.
a form of address for a man
From this reading "Oh, poor Mr Watkins!
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "Not young, eh!
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I believe I'm beginning to have enough of boys."
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "Oh, poor Mr Watkins!
and nothing more
From this reading That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change.
above and across; more than
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading "Oh, poor Mr Watkins!
-ing form of “prepare” — make ready or suitable or equip in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
a person who follows next in order
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading That makes him the more interesting, if only for a change.
propel through the air
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I believe I'm beginning to have enough of boys."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Oh, poor Mr Watkins!
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Why, Mona, I believe you were more than half engaged to that poor boy, and now you are preparing to throw him over for his successor."
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading "Not young, eh!
Chapter 2 of A Veldt Official: A Novel of Circumstance by Bertram Mitford holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 2 holds 409 sentences of A Veldt Official: A Novel of Circumstance, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of A Veldt Official: A Novel of Circumstance by Bertram Mitford exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 2 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 Veldt Official: A Novel of Circumstance by Bertram Mitford on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5405 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32922 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32922, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 450 minutes of reading across 1081 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Veldt Official: A Novel of Circumstance section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of A Veldt Official: A Novel of Circumstance 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 Veldt Official: A Novel of Circumstance, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
