Chapter 3 of Curly and Floppy Twistytail is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Curly and Floppy Twistytail is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Soon," answered the monkey. "We will have a game of tag while we are waiting." And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back. Oh! but he was a bad fellow! "Ah, ha!" he cried.
Chapter 3 of Curly and Floppy Twistytail is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
leather made from alligator's hide
From this reading “And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.”
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading “And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.”
a contest with rules to determine a winner
From this reading “"We will have a game of tag while we are waiting."”
a noisemaker (as at parties or games) that makes a loud noise when you blow through it
From this reading “And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.”
any of various long-tailed primates (excluding the prosimians)
From this reading “"Soon," answered the monkey.”
the act of playing a musical instrument
From this reading “And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.”
attach a tag or label to
From this reading “"We will have a game of tag while we are waiting."”
a silvery malleable metallic element that resists corrosion; used in many alloys and to coat other metals to prevent corrosion; obtained chiefly from cassiterite where it occurs as tin oxide
From this reading “And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.”
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 "We will have a game of tag while we are waiting."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Ah, ha!" he cried.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
leather made from alligator's hide
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
past form of “answer” — react verbally
From this reading "Soon," answered the monkey.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "We will have a game of tag while we are waiting."
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Oh! but he was a bad fellow!
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading "Ah, ha!" he cried.
a boy or man
From this reading Oh! but he was a bad fellow!
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
a contest with rules to determine a winner
From this reading "We will have a game of tag while we are waiting."
(astronomy) the angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing; the right ascension for an observer at a particular location and time of day
From this reading "Ah, ha!" he cried.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "We will have a game of tag while we are waiting."
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Oh! but he was a bad fellow!
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
a noisemaker (as at parties or games) that makes a loud noise when you blow through it
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
any of various long-tailed primates (excluding the prosimians)
From this reading "Soon," answered the monkey.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "We will have a game of tag while we are waiting."
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading Oh! but he was a bad fellow!
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
the act of playing a musical instrument
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
in the near future
From this reading "Soon," answered the monkey.
a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
happening without warning or in a short space of time
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
attach a tag or label to
From this reading "We will have a game of tag while we are waiting."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Soon," answered the monkey.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
a silvery malleable metallic element that resists corrosion; used in many alloys and to coat other metals to prevent corrosion; obtained chiefly from cassiterite where it occurs as tin oxide
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)
From this reading "We will have a game of tag while we are waiting."
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Oh! but he was a bad fellow!
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "We will have a game of tag while we are waiting."
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
during the time that
From this reading "We will have a game of tag while we are waiting."
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "We will have a game of tag while we are waiting."
in the company of; together with
From this reading And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn on his back.
Chapter 3 of Curly and Floppy Twistytail by Howard Roger Garis holds 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 3 holds 414 sentences of Curly and Floppy Twistytail, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Curly and Floppy Twistytail by Howard Roger Garis exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 3 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 Curly and Floppy Twistytail by Howard Roger Garis on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2403 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5262 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5262, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 200 minutes of reading across 481 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Curly and Floppy Twistytail section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of Curly and Floppy Twistytail 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 Curly and Floppy Twistytail, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
