Chapter 2 of An Engagement of Convenience: A Novel is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of An Engagement of Convenience: A Novel is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue. "Yes," smiled Wyndham, as he tackled the dying fire. "It's the traditional arrangement." "What a fascinating place you've got here! It's all a new world to me."
Chapter 2 of An Engagement of Convenience: A Novel is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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 thing arranged or agreed to
From this reading “"It's the traditional arrangement."”
a room used primarily for sleeping
From this reading “"Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.”
in or associated with the process of passing from life or ceasing to be
From this reading “"Yes," smiled Wyndham, as he tackled the dying fire.”
capable of arousing and holding the attention
From this reading “"What a fascinating place you've got here!”
marked by or showing unaffected simplicity and lack of guile or worldly experience
From this reading “"Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.”
moving as on a slippery surface
From this reading “"Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.”
past form of “tackle” — accept as a challenge
From this reading “"Yes," smiled Wyndham, as he tackled the dying fire.”
consisting of or derived from tradition
From this reading “"It's the traditional arrangement."”
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.
the hemisphere that includes North America and South America
In this reading “It's all a new world to me."”
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 "What a fascinating place you've got here!
(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 It's all a new world to me."
the thing arranged or agreed to
From this reading "It's the traditional arrangement."
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading "Yes," smiled Wyndham, as he tackled the dying fire.
a room used primarily for sleeping
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
in or associated with the process of passing from life or ceasing to be
From this reading "Yes," smiled Wyndham, as he tackled the dying fire.
capable of arousing and holding the attention
From this reading "What a fascinating place you've got here!
start firing a weapon
From this reading "Yes," smiled Wyndham, as he tackled the dying fire.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "What a fascinating place you've got here!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading "What a fascinating place you've got here!
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It's the traditional arrangement."
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It's all a new world to me."
marked by or showing unaffected simplicity and lack of guile or worldly experience
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading It's all a new world to me."
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading "What a fascinating place you've got here!
moving as on a slippery surface
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading "Yes," smiled Wyndham, as he tackled the dying fire.
past form of “tackle” — accept as a challenge
From this reading "Yes," smiled Wyndham, as he tackled the dying fire.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Yes," smiled Wyndham, as he tackled the dying fire.
in or at that place or location
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It's all a new world to me."
a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
consisting of or derived from tradition
From this reading "It's the traditional arrangement."
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "What a fascinating place you've got here!
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading It's all a new world to me."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Yes," smiled Wyndham, as he tackled the dying fire.
an affirmative
From this reading "Yes," smiled Wyndham, as he tackled the dying fire.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "What a fascinating place you've got here!
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Is your bedroom up there?" he hazarded, his naive interest slipping out on his tongue.
Chapter 2 of An Engagement of Convenience: A Novel by Louis Zangwill holds 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 416 sentences of An Engagement of Convenience: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of An Engagement of Convenience: A Novel by Louis Zangwill exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 An Engagement of Convenience: A Novel by Louis Zangwill on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4622 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33747 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33747, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 385 minutes of reading across 925 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through An Engagement of Convenience: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of An Engagement of Convenience: A Novel 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 An Engagement of Convenience: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
