Chapter 1 of Better than Play is here in full — 124 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Better than Play is here in full — 124 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Illustration: "Flowers, Ma'am? Tuppence and a penny a bunch." (Artist unattrib.) BETTER THAN PLAY. MABEL QUILLER-COUCH.
Chapter 1 of Better than Play is here in full — 124 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/24 · 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 person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination
From this reading “(Artist unattrib.)”
(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 “BETTER THAN PLAY.”
a grouping of a number of similar things
From this reading “Tuppence and a penny a bunch."”
plural of “flower” — a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading “Illustration: "Flowers, Ma'am?”
artwork that helps make something clear or attractive
From this reading “Illustration: "Flowers, Ma'am?”
a woman of refinement
From this reading “Illustration: "Flowers, Ma'am?”
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading “Tuppence and a penny a bunch."”
participate in games or sport
From this reading “BETTER THAN PLAY.”
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.
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 Tuppence and a penny a bunch."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Tuppence and a penny a bunch."
a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination
From this reading (Artist unattrib.)
(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 BETTER THAN PLAY.
a grouping of a number of similar things
From this reading Tuppence and a penny a bunch."
plural of “flower” — a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading Illustration: "Flowers, Ma'am?
artwork that helps make something clear or attractive
From this reading Illustration: "Flowers, Ma'am?
a woman of refinement
From this reading Illustration: "Flowers, Ma'am?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MABEL QUILLER-COUCH.
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading Tuppence and a penny a bunch."
participate in games or sport
From this reading BETTER THAN PLAY.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MABEL QUILLER-COUCH.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading BETTER THAN PLAY.
a former United Kingdom silver coin; United Kingdom bronze decimal coin worth two pennies
From this reading Tuppence and a penny a bunch."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading (Artist unattrib.)
Chapter 1 of Better than Play by Mabel Quiller-Couch holds 124 sentences, grouped into 25 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 124 sentences of Better than Play, unabridged, divided into 25 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Better than Play by Mabel Quiller-Couch exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 124 sentences, grouped into 25 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 25 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 25 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 Better than Play by Mabel Quiller-Couch on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2060 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31836 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31836, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 171 minutes of reading across 412 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Better than Play section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of Better than Play 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 Better than Play, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
