Chapter 4 of Down the Snow Stairs is here in full — 213 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Down the Snow Stairs is here in full — 213 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
NAUGHTY CHILDREN LAND. IT was an extraordinary looking place. Kitty thought it was the queerest place she had ever seen. It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks. Presently there came a sound of screaming and shouting.
Chapter 4 of Down the Snow Stairs is here in full — 213 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/42 · 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.
past form of “bulge” — swell or protrude outwards
From this reading “It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.”
plural of “hole” — an opening into or through something
From this reading “It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.”
the combined stakes of the betters
From this reading “Kitty thought it was the queerest place she had ever seen.”
plural of “mound” — (baseball) the slight elevation on which the pitcher stands
From this reading “It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.”
suggestive of sexual impropriety
From this reading “NAUGHTY CHILDREN LAND.”
the condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage
From this reading “It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.”
so extremely intense as to evoke screams
From this reading “Presently there came a sound of screaming and shouting.”
encouragement in the form of cheers from spectators
From this reading “Presently there came a sound of screaming and shouting.”
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.
In this reading “NAUGHTY CHILDREN LAND.”
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 It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
(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 It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading IT was an extraordinary looking place.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
outward or visible aspect of a person or thing
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
English botanist who accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific Ocean (1743-1820)
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
completely unclothed
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
past form of “bulge” — swell or protrude outwards
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Presently there came a sound of screaming and shouting.
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading NAUGHTY CHILDREN LAND.
at any time
From this reading Kitty thought it was the queerest place she had ever seen.
beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable
From this reading IT was an extraordinary looking place.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
the solid part of the earth's surface
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Kitty thought it was the queerest place she had ever seen.
plural of “hole” — an opening into or through something
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading IT was an extraordinary looking place.
the combined stakes of the betters
From this reading Kitty thought it was the queerest place she had ever seen.
the land on which real estate is located
From this reading NAUGHTY CHILDREN LAND.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading IT was an extraordinary looking place.
plural of “mound” — (baseball) the slight elevation on which the pitcher stands
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
suggestive of sexual impropriety
From this reading NAUGHTY CHILDREN LAND.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading IT was an extraordinary looking place.
in the near future
From this reading Presently there came a sound of screaming and shouting.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Kitty thought it was the queerest place she had ever seen.
the condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
so extremely intense as to evoke screams
From this reading Presently there came a sound of screaming and shouting.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Kitty thought it was the queerest place she had ever seen.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Kitty thought it was the queerest place she had ever seen.
encouragement in the form of cheers from spectators
From this reading Presently there came a sound of screaming and shouting.
plural of “side” — a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading Presently there came a sound of screaming and shouting.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Kitty thought it was the queerest place she had ever seen.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Presently there came a sound of screaming and shouting.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Kitty thought it was the queerest place she had ever seen.
plural of “tree” — a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It had a tumbled-about, pulled-about appearance, for the ground was all in mounds and holes, and the roots of the trees bulged bare from the sides of the banks.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading IT was an extraordinary looking place.
Chapter 4 of Down the Snow Stairs by Alice Corkran holds 213 sentences, grouped into 43 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 213 sentences of Down the Snow Stairs, unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Down the Snow Stairs by Alice Corkran exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 213 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 Down the Snow Stairs by Alice Corkran on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2639 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #57413 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #57413, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 219 minutes of reading across 528 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Down the Snow Stairs section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of Down the Snow Stairs 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 Down the Snow Stairs, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
