Chapter 1 of Bentley's Miscellany, Volume I is here in full — 6004 sentences across 1201 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Bentley's Miscellany, Volume I is here in full — 6004 sentences across 1201 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble. _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner. _Requiescat! Amen!_] [53] _Anglicè_, John, my jewel. [54] _Anglicè_, Black Biddy.
Chapter 1 of Bentley's Miscellany, Volume I is here in full — 6004 sentences across 1201 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1119/1200 · 5 reading units · Lines 5591–5595
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 primeval Egyptian personification of air and breath; worshipped especially at Thebes
From this reading “Amen!_] [53] _Anglicè_, John, my jewel.”
adult female chicken
From this reading “[54] _Anglicè_, Black Biddy.”
a public official who investigates by inquest any death not due to natural causes
From this reading “_Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.”
a precious or semiprecious stone incorporated into a piece of jewelry
From this reading “Amen!_] [53] _Anglicè_, John, my jewel.”
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading “Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble.”
a hard crystalline metamorphic rock that takes a high polish; used for sculpture and as building material
From this reading “Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble.”
(sports) the act of swinging or striking at a ball with a club or racket or bat or cue or hand
From this reading “_Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.”
a United States unit of weight equivalent to 2000 pounds
From this reading “Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble.”
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 “_Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.”
be successful; achieve a goal
In this reading “_Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Amen!_] [53] _Anglicè_, John, my jewel.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [54] _Anglicè_, Black Biddy.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble.
a primeval Egyptian personification of air and breath; worshipped especially at Thebes
From this reading Amen!_] [53] _Anglicè_, John, my jewel.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Amen!_] [53] _Anglicè_, John, my jewel.
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
adult female chicken
From this reading [54] _Anglicè_, Black Biddy.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading [54] _Anglicè_, Black Biddy.
a glass or plastic vessel used for storing drinks or other liquids; typically cylindrical without handles and with a narrow neck that can be plugged or capped
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
inflected form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble.
a public official who investigates by inquest any death not due to natural causes
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
a boy or man
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
a precious or semiprecious stone incorporated into a piece of jewelry
From this reading Amen!_] [53] _Anglicè_, John, my jewel.
the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading Amen!_] [53] _Anglicè_, John, my jewel.
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble.
plural of “lie” — a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
From this reading Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble.
a hard crystalline metamorphic rock that takes a high polish; used for sculpture and as building material
From this reading Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Amen!_] [53] _Anglicè_, John, my jewel.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble.
a prayer for the repose of the soul of a dead person
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
(sports) the act of swinging or striking at a ball with a club or racket or bat or cue or hand
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
one of three equal parts of a divisible whole
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
a United States unit of weight equivalent to 2000 pounds
From this reading Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading _Requiescat!_ A better fellow never took six feet in a stroke, carried off a third bottle, or gave a job to the coroner.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble.
the vertical force exerted by a mass as a result of gravity
From this reading Poor Johnny lies under a ton weight of Connemara marble.
Chapter 1 of Bentley's Miscellany, Volume I by Various holds 6004 sentences, grouped into 1201 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 1 holds 6004 sentences of Bentley's Miscellany, Volume I, unabridged, divided into 1201 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Bentley's Miscellany, Volume I by Various exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 6004 sentences, grouped into 1201 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 1201 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 1201 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.
Common questions about reading Bentley's Miscellany, Volume I by Various on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 13310 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #44578 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #44578, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2662 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Bentley's Miscellany, Volume I section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of Bentley's Miscellany, Volume I 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 Bentley's Miscellany, Volume I, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
