Chapter 5 of Cheerful—By Request is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Cheerful—By Request is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening. Charley Lembke, from his porch across the street, called to him: "Goin' down town?" "Yeh, I guess so." "Ain't you afraid of bein' pinched?" Buzz turned his head quickly toward the room just behind him.
Chapter 5 of Cheerful—By Request is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
make a buzzing sound
From this reading “Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.”
expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading “"Yeh, I guess so."”
sounding as if the nose were pinched
From this reading “"Ain't you afraid of bein' pinched?"”
a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance
From this reading “Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.”
with speed
From this reading “Buzz turned his head quickly toward the room just behind him.”
the time of day immediately following sunset
From this reading “Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.”
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading “Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.”
marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
From this reading “Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.”
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 Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading Charley Lembke, from his porch across the street, called to him: "Goin' down town?"
filled with fear or apprehension
From this reading "Ain't you afraid of bein' pinched?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Ain't you afraid of bein' pinched?"
at or toward the back of something
From this reading Buzz turned his head quickly toward the room just behind him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Ain't you afraid of bein' pinched?"
make a buzzing sound
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading Charley Lembke, from his porch across the street, called to him: "Goin' down town?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Charley Lembke, from his porch across the street, called to him: "Goin' down town?"
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Charley Lembke, from his porch across the street, called to him: "Goin' down town?"
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
the organ of sight
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Charley Lembke, from his porch across the street, called to him: "Goin' down town?"
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Charley Lembke, from his porch across the street, called to him: "Goin' down town?"
expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading "Yeh, I guess so."
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Buzz turned his head quickly toward the room just behind him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Charley Lembke, from his porch across the street, called to him: "Goin' down town?"
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Charley Lembke, from his porch across the street, called to him: "Goin' down town?"
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Yeh, I guess so."
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
and nothing more
From this reading Buzz turned his head quickly toward the room just behind him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Charley Lembke, from his porch across the street, called to him: "Goin' down town?"
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
sounding as if the nose were pinched
From this reading "Ain't you afraid of bein' pinched?"
a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
with speed
From this reading Buzz turned his head quickly toward the room just behind him.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading Buzz turned his head quickly toward the room just behind him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading "Yeh, I guess so."
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
in the direction of
From this reading Buzz turned his head quickly toward the room just behind him.
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading Charley Lembke, from his porch across the street, called to him: "Goin' down town?"
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Buzz turned his head quickly toward the room just behind him.
the time of day immediately following sunset
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Buzz, with a wary eye up the street, slouched out to the front porch, into the twilight of the warm May evening.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Yeh, I guess so."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Ain't you afraid of bein' pinched?"
Chapter 5 of Cheerful—By Request by Edna Ferber holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 5 holds 409 sentences of Cheerful—By Request, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Cheerful—By Request by Edna Ferber exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 5 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 Cheerful—By Request by Edna Ferber on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7249 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #11395 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #11395, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1450 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Cheerful—By Request section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of Cheerful—By Request 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 Cheerful—By Request, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
