Chapter 8 of Blackthorn Farm is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Blackthorn Farm is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ARRESTED. Rupert awoke with a start. Some one had been knocking loudly at his door. He turned slowly round, then sat upright. The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.
Chapter 8 of Blackthorn Farm is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 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.
past form of “arrest” — take into custody
From this reading “ARRESTED.”
plural of “curtain” — hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)
From this reading “The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.”
pull, or move with a sudden movement
From this reading “The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.”
the sound of knocking (as on a door or in an engine or bearing)
From this reading “Some one had been knocking loudly at his door.”
with relatively high volume
From this reading “Some one had been knocking loudly at his door.”
full of or characterized by loud and nonmusical sounds
From this reading “The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.”
English leader (born in Germany) of the Royalist forces during the English Civil War (1619-1682)
From this reading “Rupert awoke with a start.”
in a vertical position; not sloping
From this reading “He turned slowly round, then sat upright.”
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.
come to a halt after driving somewhere
In this reading “The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.”
In this reading “The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.”
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 Rupert awoke with a start.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.
past form of “arrest” — take into custody
From this reading ARRESTED.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Some one had been knocking loudly at his door.
inflected form of “awake” — stop sleeping
From this reading Rupert awoke with a start.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Some one had been knocking loudly at his door.
people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
From this reading The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.
plural of “curtain” — hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)
From this reading The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Some one had been knocking loudly at his door.
showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
From this reading The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Some one had been knocking loudly at his door.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He turned slowly round, then sat upright.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Some one had been knocking loudly at his door.
pull, or move with a sudden movement
From this reading The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.
the sound of knocking (as on a door or in an engine or bearing)
From this reading Some one had been knocking loudly at his door.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.
with relatively high volume
From this reading Some one had been knocking loudly at his door.
a female domestic
From this reading The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.
full of or characterized by loud and nonmusical sounds
From this reading The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Some one had been knocking loudly at his door.
past form of “pull” — cause to move by pulling
From this reading The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading He turned slowly round, then sat upright.
English leader (born in Germany) of the Royalist forces during the English Civil War (1619-1682)
From this reading Rupert awoke with a start.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading He turned slowly round, then sat upright.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading He turned slowly round, then sat upright.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Some one had been knocking loudly at his door.
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Rupert awoke with a start.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading He turned slowly round, then sat upright.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading He turned slowly round, then sat upright.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The little maid had drawn back the curtains and pulled up the blind with a noisy jerk.
in a vertical position; not sloping
From this reading He turned slowly round, then sat upright.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Rupert awoke with a start.
Chapter 8 of Blackthorn Farm by Arthur Applin holds 170 sentences, grouped into 34 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 8 holds 170 sentences of Blackthorn Farm, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Blackthorn Farm by Arthur Applin exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 170 sentences, grouped into 34 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 34 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 34 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 8 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 Blackthorn Farm by Arthur Applin on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5795 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #42519 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #42519, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 482 minutes of reading across 1159 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Blackthorn Farm section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of Blackthorn Farm 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 Blackthorn Farm, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
