Chapter 31 of Frank Merriwell's First Job is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXI
Chapter 31 of Frank Merriwell's First Job is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
AN UNGRATEFUL MAN. So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right. It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out. It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time. The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
Chapter 31 of Frank Merriwell's First Job is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
form a curve
From this reading “It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time.”
fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period
From this reading “It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time.”
motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work
From this reading “So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.”
a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems
From this reading “The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.”
possessive form of “frank” — a member of the ancient Germanic peoples who spread from the Rhine into the Roman Empire in the 4th century
a hand tool for lifting loose material; consists of a curved container or scoop and a handle
From this reading “It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time.”
not feeling or showing gratitude
From this reading “AN UNGRATEFUL MAN.”
something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation
From this reading “The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.”
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 “It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.”
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 made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.
later than; following
From this reading So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
(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 So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading AN UNGRATEFUL MAN.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time.
form a curve
From this reading It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period
From this reading It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time.
the quality of being unlike or dissimilar
From this reading It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work
From this reading So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems
From this reading The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
set up or found
From this reading It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.
possessive form of “frank” — a member of the ancient Germanic peoples who spread from the Rhine into the Roman Empire in the 4th century
From this reading It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading AN UNGRATEFUL MAN.
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.
absolutely essential
From this reading It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.
affix in a public place or for public notice
From this reading The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
with speed
From this reading It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
unusual or striking
From this reading It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.
precisely, exactly
From this reading So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
a hand tool for lifting loose material; consists of a curved container or scoop and a handle
From this reading It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
caught or fixed
From this reading The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
create by training and teaching
From this reading So old Joe took the train through, after all, and he ran the engine right.
not feeling or showing gratitude
From this reading AN UNGRATEFUL MAN.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was not necessary to bend his back and shovel coal all the time.
at the time that
From this reading The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading It made a remarkable difference in Frank’s work, as Merry quickly found out.
something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation
From this reading The old engineer looked like a wreck when the end of the run was reached, but he had stuck to his post.
Chapter 31 of Frank Merriwell's First Job by Burt L. Standish holds 136 sentences, grouped into 28 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 31 holds 136 sentences of Frank Merriwell's First Job, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 31 of Frank Merriwell's First Job by Burt L. Standish exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 136 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 31 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 Frank Merriwell's First Job by Burt L. Standish on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4572 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #64635 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #64635, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 381 minutes of reading across 915 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Frank Merriwell's First Job section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 36 chapters of Frank Merriwell's First Job 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 Frank Merriwell's First Job, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
