Chapter 32 of Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays is here in full — 975 sentences across 195 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXII
Chapter 32 of Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays is here in full — 975 sentences across 195 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
TSUMU [_getting up_]. I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married. HELENA. It's a great disillusionment. TSUMU [_agast_].
Chapter 32 of Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays is here in full — 975 sentences across 195 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/195 · 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 “baby” — a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading “I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.”
actively or fully engaged or occupied
From this reading “I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.”
freeing from false belief or illusions
From this reading “It's a great disillusionment.”
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.”
the act of acquiring something
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading “I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.”
capital of the state of Montana; located in western Montana
From this reading “HELENA.”
joined in matrimony
From this reading “I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.”
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.
take in marriage
In this reading “I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.”
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's a great disillusionment.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TSUMU [_agast_].
plural of “baby” — a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.
actively or fully engaged or occupied
From this reading I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.
freeing from false belief or illusions
From this reading It's a great disillusionment.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.
the act of acquiring something
From this reading TSUMU [_getting up_].
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading It's a great disillusionment.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.
capital of the state of Montana; located in western Montana
From this reading HELENA.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's a great disillusionment.
joined in matrimony
From this reading I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I've been so busy having babies I never had time to get married.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TSUMU [_getting up_].
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading TSUMU [_getting up_].
Chapter 32 of Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays by Frank [Editor] Shay holds 975 sentences, grouped into 195 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 32 holds 975 sentences of Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays, unabridged, divided into 195 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 32 of Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays by Frank [Editor] Shay exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 975 sentences, grouped into 195 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 195 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 195 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 32 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 Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays by Frank [Editor] Shay on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 35466 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36984 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36984, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 7094 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays 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 Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
