Chapter 34 of Desperate Remedies is here in full — 208 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXIV
Chapter 34 of Desperate Remedies is here in full — 208 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
‘I don’t think so, love.’ ‘She was burnt, I tell you!’ he exclaimed. ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’ ‘O yes--to please you I will admit that,’ he said quickly. ‘Yes, I admit the possibility of her being alive, to please you.’
Chapter 34 of Desperate Remedies is here in full — 208 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/41 · 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.
declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of
From this reading “‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’”
possessing life
From this reading “‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’”
completely unclothed
From this reading “‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’”
ruined by overcooking
From this reading “‘She was burnt, I tell you!’ he exclaimed.”
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading “‘She was burnt, I tell you!’ he exclaimed.”
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading “‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’”
a future prospect or potential
From this reading “‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’”
with speed
From this reading “‘O yes--to please you I will admit that,’ he said quickly.”
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.
declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of
From this reading ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’
possessing life
From this reading ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’
completely unclothed
From this reading ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’
ruined by overcooking
From this reading ‘She was burnt, I tell you!’ he exclaimed.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘I don’t think so, love.’
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading ‘She was burnt, I tell you!’ he exclaimed.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading ‘She was burnt, I tell you!’ he exclaimed.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading ‘I don’t think so, love.’
and nothing more
From this reading ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading ‘I don’t think so, love.’
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading ‘O yes--to please you I will admit that,’ he said quickly.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’
a future prospect or potential
From this reading ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’
with speed
From this reading ‘O yes--to please you I will admit that,’ he said quickly.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading ‘O yes--to please you I will admit that,’ he said quickly.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading ‘She was burnt, I tell you!’ he exclaimed.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading ‘I don’t think so, love.’
express in words
From this reading ‘She was burnt, I tell you!’ he exclaimed.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading ‘O yes--to please you I will admit that,’ he said quickly.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading ‘I don’t think so, love.’
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading ‘Now to please me, admit the bare possibility of her being alive--just the possibility.’
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ‘She was burnt, I tell you!’ he exclaimed.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading ‘O yes--to please you I will admit that,’ he said quickly.
an affirmative
From this reading ‘O yes--to please you I will admit that,’ he said quickly.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading ‘She was burnt, I tell you!’ he exclaimed.
Chapter 34 of Desperate Remedies by Thomas Hardy holds 208 sentences, grouped into 42 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 34 holds 208 sentences of Desperate Remedies, unabridged, divided into 42 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 34 of Desperate Remedies by Thomas Hardy exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 208 sentences, grouped into 42 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 42 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 42 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 34 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 Desperate Remedies by Thomas Hardy on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7979 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3044 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3044, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1596 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Desperate Remedies section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Desperate Remedies 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 Desperate Remedies, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
