Chapter 7 of Free, and other stories is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of Free, and other stories is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper. She sighed at the sight. “Back, daughter?” he called pleasantly. “Yes.” “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
Chapter 7 of Free, and other stories is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
equally
From this reading “She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.”
plural of “lawn” — a field of cultivated and mowed grass
From this reading “She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.”
large and complicated reddish-brown glandular organ located in the upper right portion of the abdominal cavity
From this reading ““Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.”
in a cheerful manner
From this reading ““Back, daughter?” he called pleasantly.”
past form of “sigh” — heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily
From this reading “She sighed at the sight.”
a slice of meat cut from the fleshy part of an animal or large fish
From this reading ““Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.”
a porch along the outside of a building (sometimes partly enclosed)
From this reading “She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.”
showing curiosity
From this reading ““Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.”
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 “She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.”
In this reading “She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.”
In this reading ““Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.”
In this reading “She sighed at the sight.”
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.
equally
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
(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 She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading She sighed at the sight.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading “Back, daughter?” he called pleasantly.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading “Back, daughter?” he called pleasantly.
a female human offspring
From this reading “Back, daughter?” he called pleasantly.
the main meal of the day served in the evening or at midday
From this reading “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
set up or found
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Back, daughter?” he called pleasantly.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
plural of “house” — a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
plural of “lawn” — a field of cultivated and mowed grass
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
large and complicated reddish-brown glandular organ located in the upper right portion of the abdominal cavity
From this reading “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
in a cheerful manner
From this reading “Back, daughter?” he called pleasantly.
the cognitive process of understanding a written linguistic message
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
past form of “sigh” — heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily
From this reading She sighed at the sight.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading She sighed at the sight.
a slice of meat cut from the fleshy part of an animal or large fish
From this reading “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
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 She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
a porch along the outside of a building (sometimes partly enclosed)
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading She walked up the street under the trees, past the houses and lawns all alike to her own, and found her father on their veranda reading the evening paper.
showing curiosity
From this reading “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
an affirmative
From this reading “Yes.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Your mother is wondering if you would like steak or liver for dinner.
Chapter 7 of Free, and other stories by Theodore Dreiser holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 7 holds 409 sentences of Free, and other stories, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of Free, and other stories by Theodore Dreiser exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 7 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 Free, and other stories by Theodore Dreiser on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6241 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #68542 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #68542, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 520 minutes of reading across 1249 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Free, and other stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of Free, and other stories 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 Free, and other stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
