Chapter 1 of Alvira: The Heroine of Vesuvius is here in full — 36 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Alvira: The Heroine of Vesuvius is here in full — 36 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Paris One Hundred and Fifty Years Ago. "Paris is on fire!" "The Tuileries burnt!" "The Hotel de Ville in ashes!" There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
Chapter 1 of Alvira: The Heroine of Vesuvius is here in full — 36 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/7 · 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.
declared publicly; made widely known
From this reading “There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.”
The powdery residue left after the burning of a substance.
From this reading “"The Hotel de Ville in ashes!"”
ruined by overcooking
From this reading “"The Tuileries burnt!"”
assets available for use in the production of further assets
From this reading “There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.”
the termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists
From this reading “There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.”
inflected form of “electrify” — excite suddenly and intensely
From this reading “There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.”
a building where travelers can pay for lodging and meals and other services
From this reading “"The Hotel de Ville in ashes!"”
plural of “telegram” — a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading “There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.”
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 are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
in the past
From this reading Paris One Hundred and Fifty Years Ago.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Paris One Hundred and Fifty Years Ago.
declared publicly; made widely known
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
The powdery residue left after the burning of a substance.
From this reading "The Hotel de Ville in ashes!"
ruined by overcooking
From this reading "The Tuileries burnt!"
assets available for use in the production of further assets
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies
From this reading "The Hotel de Ville in ashes!"
the termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
inflected form of “electrify” — excite suddenly and intensely
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
the cardinal number that is the product of ten and five
From this reading Paris One Hundred and Fifty Years Ago.
start firing a weapon
From this reading "Paris is on fire!"
the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
a building where travelers can pay for lodging and meals and other services
From this reading "The Hotel de Ville in ashes!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
ten 10s
From this reading Paris One Hundred and Fifty Years Ago.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "The Hotel de Ville in ashes!"
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Paris is on fire!"
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "Paris is on fire!"
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Paris One Hundred and Fifty Years Ago.
the capital and largest city of France; and international center of culture and commerce
From this reading Paris One Hundred and Fifty Years Ago.
To recall to mind.
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
plural of “telegram” — a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "The Tuileries burnt!"
in or at that place or location
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
palace and royal residence built for Catherine de Medicis in 1564 and burned down in 1871; all that remains today are the formal gardens
From this reading "The Tuileries burnt!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "The Hotel de Ville in ashes!"
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
which person or people
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
in the company of; together with
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading There are few who do not remember how the world was electrified with the telegrams that a few years ago announced the destruction of the French capital.
a late time of life
From this reading Paris One Hundred and Fifty Years Ago.
Chapter 1 of Alvira: The Heroine of Vesuvius by A. J. (Augustine J.) O'Reilly holds 36 sentences, grouped into 8 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 36 sentences of Alvira: The Heroine of Vesuvius, unabridged, divided into 8 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Alvira: The Heroine of Vesuvius by A. J. (Augustine J.) O'Reilly exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 36 sentences, grouped into 8 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 8 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 8 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.
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About 113 minutes of reading across 272 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Alvira: The Heroine of Vesuvius section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of Alvira: The Heroine of Vesuvius to begin.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Alvira: The Heroine of Vesuvius, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
