Chapter 4 of Dancers in the Dark is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Dancers in the Dark is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Joy felt herself growing warm. How had things come as far as this—in half an hour? She rose, and shook the sand from her skirts. “We must go in. I don’t know how many dances we’ve missed.
Chapter 4 of Dancers in the Dark is here in full — 413 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.
plural of “dance” — an artistic form of nonverbal communication
From this reading “I don’t know how many dances we’ve missed.”
(biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
From this reading “Joy felt herself growing warm.”
the emotion of great happiness
From this reading “Joy felt herself growing warm.”
not caught with the senses or the mind
From this reading “I don’t know how many dances we’ve missed.”
a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
From this reading “She rose, and shook the sand from her skirts.”
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading “She rose, and shook the sand from her skirts.”
plural of “skirt” — cloth covering that forms the part of a garment below the waist
From this reading “She rose, and shook the sand from her skirts.”
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading “Joy felt herself growing warm.”
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.
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.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading How had things come as far as this—in half an hour?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She rose, and shook the sand from her skirts.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading How had things come as far as this—in half an hour?
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading How had things come as far as this—in half an hour?
plural of “dance” — an artistic form of nonverbal communication
From this reading I don’t know how many dances we’ve missed.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I don’t know how many dances we’ve missed.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading How had things come as far as this—in half an hour?
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading Joy felt herself growing warm.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading She rose, and shook the sand from her skirts.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading “We must go in.
(biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
From this reading Joy felt herself growing warm.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading How had things come as far as this—in half an hour?
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading How had things come as far as this—in half an hour?
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She rose, and shook the sand from her skirts.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading Joy felt herself growing warm.
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading How had things come as far as this—in half an hour?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How had things come as far as this—in half an hour?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I don’t know how many dances we’ve missed.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading How had things come as far as this—in half an hour?
the emotion of great happiness
From this reading Joy felt herself growing warm.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading I don’t know how many dances we’ve missed.
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 I don’t know how many dances we’ve missed.
not caught with the senses or the mind
From this reading I don’t know how many dances we’ve missed.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading “We must go in.
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading She rose, and shook the sand from her skirts.
a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
From this reading She rose, and shook the sand from her skirts.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She rose, and shook the sand from her skirts.
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading She rose, and shook the sand from her skirts.
plural of “skirt” — cloth covering that forms the part of a garment below the waist
From this reading She rose, and shook the sand from her skirts.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She rose, and shook the sand from her skirts.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading How had things come as far as this—in half an hour?
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading How had things come as far as this—in half an hour?
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading Joy felt herself growing warm.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading “We must go in.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I don’t know how many dances we’ve missed.
Chapter 4 of Dancers in the Dark by Dorothy Speare holds 413 sentences, grouped into 83 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 413 sentences of Dancers in the Dark, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Dancers in the Dark by Dorothy Speare exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 413 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 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 Dancers in the Dark by Dorothy Speare on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5800 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60176 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60176, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 483 minutes of reading across 1160 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Dancers in the Dark section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of Dancers in the Dark 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 Dancers in the Dark, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
