Chapter 2 of Adventures of the runaway rocking chair is here in full — 523 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Adventures of the runaway rocking chair is here in full — 523 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"A policeman--what for?" gasped Weezie. "A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly. "I want the policeman to chase after him and get them back! Hurry, or it may be too late!" But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
Chapter 2 of Adventures of the runaway rocking chair is here in full — 523 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/104 · 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 mother of your father or mother
From this reading “"A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.”
act or move at high speed
From this reading “But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.”
pen where racehorses are saddled and paraded before a race
From this reading “But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.”
a member of a police force
From this reading “"A policeman--what for?" gasped Weezie.”
-ing form of “rock” — move back and forth or sideways
From this reading “"A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.”
with sternness; in a severe manner
From this reading “"A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.”
changing location by moving back and forth
From this reading “But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.”
a vagrant
From this reading “"A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.”
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 “Hurry, or it may be too late!"”
In this reading “But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.”
In this reading “"A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.”
pursue someone sexually or romantically
In this reading “"I want the policeman to chase after him and get them back!”
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 "A policeman--what for?" gasped Weezie.
later than; following
From this reading "I want the policeman to chase after him and get them back!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading "I want the policeman to chase after him and get them back!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Hurry, or it may be too late!"
earlier than; in front of
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading "A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.
go after with the intent to catch
From this reading "I want the policeman to chase after him and get them back!
a team of professional baseball players who play and travel together
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
a place off to the side of an area
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "A policeman--what for?" gasped Weezie.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
past form of “gasp” — breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted
From this reading "A policeman--what for?" gasped Weezie.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "I want the policeman to chase after him and get them back!
(plural) optical instrument consisting of a frame that holds a pair of lenses for correcting defective vision
From this reading "A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.
the mother of your father or mother
From this reading "A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.
act or move at high speed
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "I want the policeman to chase after him and get them back!
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry
From this reading Hurry, or it may be too late!"
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I want the policeman to chase after him and get them back!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Hurry, or it may be too late!"
being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time
From this reading Hurry, or it may be too late!"
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading Hurry, or it may be too late!"
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Hurry, or it may be too late!"
pen where racehorses are saddled and paraded before a race
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
a member of a police force
From this reading "A policeman--what for?" gasped Weezie.
-ing form of “rock” — move back and forth or sideways
From this reading "A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
with sternness; in a severe manner
From this reading "A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.
changing location by moving back and forth
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading "A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "I want the policeman to chase after him and get them back!
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading "I want the policeman to chase after him and get them back!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "I want the policeman to chase after him and get them back!
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading Hurry, or it may be too late!"
a vagrant
From this reading "A tramp has taken my rocking chair and my glasses!" said Grandma, sternly.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading But before Nat could hasten down to the corner, up the front steps came big Policeman Paddock himself, swinging his club.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading "I want the policeman to chase after him and get them back!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "A policeman--what for?" gasped Weezie.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "A policeman--what for?" gasped Weezie.
Chapter 2 of Adventures of the runaway rocking chair by Howard Roger Garis holds 523 sentences, grouped into 105 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 523 sentences of Adventures of the runaway rocking chair, unabridged, divided into 105 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Adventures of the runaway rocking chair by Howard Roger Garis exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 523 sentences, grouped into 105 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 105 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 105 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 Adventures of the runaway rocking chair by Howard Roger Garis on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1551 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #71213 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #71213, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 129 minutes of reading across 311 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Adventures of the runaway rocking chair section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of Adventures of the runaway rocking chair 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 Adventures of the runaway rocking chair, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
