Chapter IV of Billy Mink, “Billy Finds Some Queer Fences,” is here in full — 41 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter IV of Billy Mink, “Billy Finds Some Queer Fences,” is here in full — 41 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
When something new and strange you find, Watch out! To danger be not blind. _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless. When they find something new and strange they forget everything but their curiosity. Because of this they walk right straight into trouble.
Chapter IV of Billy Mink, “Billy Finds Some Queer Fences,” is here in full — 41 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/8 · 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 short stout club used primarily by policemen
people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
From this reading “To danger be not blind.”
a state in which you want to learn more about something
From this reading “When they find something new and strange they forget everything but their curiosity.”
the condition of being susceptible to harm or injury
From this reading “To danger be not blind.”
dismiss from the mind; stop remembering
From this reading “When they find something new and strange they forget everything but their curiosity.”
the expensive fur of a mink
From this reading “_Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.”
successive (without a break)
From this reading “Because of this they walk right straight into trouble.”
look attentively
From this reading “When something new and strange you find, Watch out!”
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 “_Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.”
In this reading “Because of this they walk right straight into trouble.”
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 _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading When something new and strange you find, Watch out!
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading To danger be not blind.
for the reason that
From this reading Because of this they walk right straight into trouble.
a short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
From this reading To danger be not blind.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading When they find something new and strange they forget everything but their curiosity.
a state in which you want to learn more about something
From this reading When they find something new and strange they forget everything but their curiosity.
the condition of being susceptible to harm or injury
From this reading To danger be not blind.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading When they find something new and strange they forget everything but their curiosity.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading When something new and strange you find, Watch out!
dismiss from the mind; stop remembering
From this reading When they find something new and strange they forget everything but their curiosity.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
marked by or paying little heed or attention
From this reading _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Because of this they walk right straight into trouble.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
the expensive fur of a mink
From this reading _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading When something new and strange you find, Watch out!
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading To danger be not blind.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Because of this they walk right straight into trouble.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading When something new and strange you find, Watch out!
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
precisely, exactly
From this reading Because of this they walk right straight into trouble.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading When something new and strange you find, Watch out!
successive (without a break)
From this reading Because of this they walk right straight into trouble.
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading When something new and strange you find, Watch out!
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading When they find something new and strange they forget everything but their curiosity.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Because of this they walk right straight into trouble.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading To danger be not blind.
a source of difficulty
From this reading _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
the act of traveling by foot
From this reading Because of this they walk right straight into trouble.
look attentively
From this reading When something new and strange you find, Watch out!
at the time that
From this reading When something new and strange you find, Watch out!
in the company of; together with
From this reading _Billy Mink._ The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading When something new and strange you find, Watch out!
Chapter 4 of Billy Mink by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess holds 41 sentences, grouped into 9 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 4 holds 41 sentences of Billy Mink, unabridged, divided into 9 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Billy Mink by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 41 sentences, grouped into 9 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 9 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 9 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 4 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 Billy Mink by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1407 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #65308 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #65308, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 117 minutes of reading across 282 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Billy Mink section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of Billy Mink 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 Billy Mink, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
