Chapter 17 of Back Home is here in full — 202 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of Back Home is here in full — 202 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Ho, ho, ho! Who wouldn't go? Ho, ho, ho! Who wouldn't go? Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.”
Chapter 17 of Back Home is here in full — 202 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/40 · 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.
a vertical flue that provides a path through which smoke from a fire is carried away through the wall or roof of a building
From this reading “Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.””
move or strike with a noise
From this reading “Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.””
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading “Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.””
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading “Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.””
cut slightly, with a razor
From this reading “Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.””
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading “Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.””
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.
a vertical flue that provides a path through which smoke from a fire is carried away through the wall or roof of a building
From this reading Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.”
move or strike with a noise
From this reading Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.”
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.”
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Who wouldn't go?
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.”
a trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; occurs together with yttrium; forms highly magnetic compounds
From this reading “Ho, ho, ho!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.”
cut slightly, with a razor
From this reading Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.”
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.”
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.”
which person or people
From this reading Who wouldn't go?
in the company of; together with
From this reading Up on the house-top, click, click, click Down through the chimney with good St. Nick.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Who wouldn't go?
Chapter 17 of Back Home by Eugene Wood holds 202 sentences, grouped into 41 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 17 holds 202 sentences of Back Home, unabridged, divided into 41 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of Back Home by Eugene Wood exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 202 sentences, grouped into 41 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 41 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 41 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 17 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 Back Home by Eugene Wood on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3505 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2642 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2642, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 292 minutes of reading across 701 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Back Home section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of Back Home 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 Back Home, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
