Chapter 20 of From Billabong to London is here in full — 457 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of From Billabong to London is here in full — 457 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE THING THAT COUNTS. “LITTLE chap!—you mustn’t mind like that.” Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street. Something quite unfamiliar was in her throat—a hard, hot lump. She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
Chapter 20 of From Billabong to London is here in full — 457 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/91 · 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.
a boy or man
From this reading ““LITTLE chap!—you mustn’t mind like that.””
breathe with great difficulty, as when experiencing a strong emotion
From this reading “She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.”
plural of “count” — the total number counted
From this reading “THE THING THAT COUNTS.”
the act of determining the properties of something, usually by research or calculation
From this reading “She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.”
moving with great haste
From this reading “Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street.”
a compact mass
From this reading “Something quite unfamiliar was in her throat—a hard, hot lump.”
understood perfectly
From this reading “She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.”
not known or well known
From this reading “Something quite unfamiliar was in her throat—a hard, hot lump.”
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 ““LITTLE chap!—you mustn’t mind like that.””
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.”
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 Something quite unfamiliar was in her throat—a hard, hot lump.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
a boy or man
From this reading “LITTLE chap!—you mustn’t mind like that.”
breathe with great difficulty, as when experiencing a strong emotion
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
plural of “count” — the total number counted
From this reading THE THING THAT COUNTS.
the act of determining the properties of something, usually by research or calculation
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading Something quite unfamiliar was in her throat—a hard, hot lump.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning
From this reading Something quite unfamiliar was in her throat—a hard, hot lump.
moving with great haste
From this reading Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Something quite unfamiliar was in her throat—a hard, hot lump.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
(especially of promises or contracts) not violated or disregarded
From this reading Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading “LITTLE chap!—you mustn’t mind like that.”
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading “LITTLE chap!—you mustn’t mind like that.”
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street.
a compact mass
From this reading Something quite unfamiliar was in her throat—a hard, hot lump.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
understood perfectly
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading “LITTLE chap!—you mustn’t mind like that.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “LITTLE chap!—you mustn’t mind like that.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading Something quite unfamiliar was in her throat—a hard, hot lump.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
lift onto one's shoulders
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading Something quite unfamiliar was in her throat—a hard, hot lump.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading Norah kept her face from the room, looking out into the hurrying London street.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading THE THING THAT COUNTS.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE THING THAT COUNTS.
a special situation
From this reading THE THING THAT COUNTS.
The passage at the back of the mouth.
From this reading Something quite unfamiliar was in her throat—a hard, hot lump.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
not known or well known
From this reading Something quite unfamiliar was in her throat—a hard, hot lump.
up to a particular time
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Something quite unfamiliar was in her throat—a hard, hot lump.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading She felt Jim’s hand on her shoulder, but she would not look at him until she had mastered the lump’s determination to choke her.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “LITTLE chap!—you mustn’t mind like that.”
Chapter 20 of From Billabong to London by Mary Grant Bruce holds 457 sentences, grouped into 92 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 20 holds 457 sentences of From Billabong to London, unabridged, divided into 92 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of From Billabong to London by Mary Grant Bruce exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 457 sentences, grouped into 92 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 92 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 92 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 20 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 From Billabong to London by Mary Grant Bruce on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5697 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60444 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60444, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 474 minutes of reading across 1140 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through From Billabong to London section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of From Billabong to London 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 From Billabong to London, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
