Chapter 20 of Cast Upon the Breakers is here in full — 156 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of Cast Upon the Breakers is here in full — 156 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CONTINUED ILL LUCK. Rodney set himself to work searching for a new situation. But wherever he called he found Some one ahead of him. At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street. He applied and had the good fortune to please the superintendent.
Chapter 20 of Cast Upon the Breakers is here in full — 156 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/31 · 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 public promotion of some product or service
From this reading “At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.”
concerned with concrete problems or data rather than with fundamental principles
From this reading “He applied and had the good fortune to please the superintendent.”
an employee who performs clerical work (e.g., keeps records or accounts)
From this reading “At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.”
an item inserted in a written record
From this reading “At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.”
diligent and thorough in inquiry or investigation
From this reading “Rodney set himself to work searching for a new situation.”
a person who directs and manages an organization
From this reading “He applied and had the good fortune to please the superintendent.”
in or to any place at all
From this reading “But wherever he called he found Some one ahead of him.”
at a wholesale price
From this reading “At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.”
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 Rodney set himself to work searching for a new situation.
a public promotion of some product or service
From this reading At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.
at or in the front
From this reading But wherever he called he found Some one ahead of him.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He applied and had the good fortune to please the superintendent.
concerned with concrete problems or data rather than with fundamental principles
From this reading He applied and had the good fortune to please the superintendent.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But wherever he called he found Some one ahead of him.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading But wherever he called he found Some one ahead of him.
one of the groups of Christians who have their own beliefs and forms of worship
From this reading At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.
an employee who performs clerical work (e.g., keeps records or accounts)
From this reading At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.
without stop or interruption
From this reading CONTINUED ILL LUCK.
an item inserted in a written record
From this reading At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Rodney set himself to work searching for a new situation.
an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another
From this reading He applied and had the good fortune to please the superintendent.
set up or found
From this reading But wherever he called he found Some one ahead of him.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading He applied and had the good fortune to please the superintendent.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He applied and had the good fortune to please the superintendent.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading But wherever he called he found Some one ahead of him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading But wherever he called he found Some one ahead of him.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Rodney set himself to work searching for a new situation.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading CONTINUED ILL LUCK.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.
the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place
From this reading At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.
your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
From this reading CONTINUED ILL LUCK.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading Rodney set himself to work searching for a new situation.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading But wherever he called he found Some one ahead of him.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading But wherever he called he found Some one ahead of him.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading He applied and had the good fortune to please the superintendent.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Rodney set himself to work searching for a new situation.
cut with a saw
From this reading At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.
diligent and thorough in inquiry or investigation
From this reading Rodney set himself to work searching for a new situation.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Rodney set himself to work searching for a new situation.
the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time
From this reading Rodney set himself to work searching for a new situation.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading But wherever he called he found Some one ahead of him.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.
a person who directs and manages an organization
From this reading He applied and had the good fortune to please the superintendent.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He applied and had the good fortune to please the superintendent.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Rodney set himself to work searching for a new situation.
in or to any place at all
From this reading But wherever he called he found Some one ahead of him.
at a wholesale price
From this reading At length he saw an advertisement for an entry clerk in a wholesale house in Church Street.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading Rodney set himself to work searching for a new situation.
Chapter 20 of Cast Upon the Breakers by Horatio, Jr. Alger holds 156 sentences, grouped into 32 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 20 holds 156 sentences of Cast Upon the Breakers, unabridged, divided into 32 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of Cast Upon the Breakers by Horatio, Jr. Alger exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 156 sentences, grouped into 32 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 32 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 32 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 20 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 Cast Upon the Breakers by Horatio, Jr. Alger on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5109 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #399 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #399, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 425 minutes of reading across 1022 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Cast Upon the Breakers section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 36 chapters of Cast Upon the Breakers 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 Cast Upon the Breakers, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
