Chapter 14 of Gloria at Boarding School is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of Gloria at Boarding School is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away. “Oh, excuse me, Mary,” she faltered. “Glad you weren’t a lamp post.” “So am I,” said Mary. “But, Gloria, can I speak to you a moment?”
Chapter 14 of Gloria at Boarding School is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/39 · 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 cherished desire
From this reading “BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.”
past form of “balk” — refuse to comply
From this reading “BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.”
accept an excuse for
From this reading ““Oh, excuse me, Mary,” she faltered.”
past form of “falter” — be unsure or weak
From this reading ““Oh, excuse me, Mary,” she faltered.”
an artificial source of visible illumination
From this reading ““Glad you weren’t a lamp post.””
a formally arranged gathering
From this reading “BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.”
affix in a public place or for public notice
From this reading ““Glad you weren’t a lamp post.””
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading “BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.”
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.
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 “Glad you weren’t a lamp post.”
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading “So am I,” said Mary.
a cherished desire
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
past form of “balk” — refuse to comply
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “But, Gloria, can I speak to you a moment?”
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading “But, Gloria, can I speak to you a moment?”
accept an excuse for
From this reading “Oh, excuse me, Mary,” she faltered.
past form of “falter” — be unsure or weak
From this reading “Oh, excuse me, Mary,” she faltered.
showing or causing joy and pleasure; especially made happy
From this reading “Glad you weren’t a lamp post.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “But, Gloria, can I speak to you a moment?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “So am I,” said Mary.
an artificial source of visible illumination
From this reading “Glad you weren’t a lamp post.”
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Oh, excuse me, Mary,” she faltered.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
a formally arranged gathering
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
a particular point in time
From this reading “But, Gloria, can I speak to you a moment?”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading “Oh, excuse me, Mary,” she faltered.
affix in a public place or for public notice
From this reading “Glad you weren’t a lamp post.”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “So am I,” said Mary.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Oh, excuse me, Mary,” she faltered.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
express in speech
From this reading “But, Gloria, can I speak to you a moment?”
happening unexpectedly
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “But, Gloria, can I speak to you a moment?”
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading BALKED AMBITION The surprise of meeting Mary Mears so suddenly almost took Gloria’s breath away.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Glad you weren’t a lamp post.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Glad you weren’t a lamp post.”
Chapter 14 of Gloria at Boarding School by Lilian Garis holds 197 sentences, grouped into 40 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 14 holds 197 sentences of Gloria at Boarding School, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of Gloria at Boarding School by Lilian Garis exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 197 sentences, grouped into 40 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 40 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 40 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 14 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 Gloria at Boarding School by Lilian Garis on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3504 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #65271 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #65271, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 292 minutes of reading across 701 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Gloria at Boarding School section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of Gloria at Boarding School 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 Gloria at Boarding School, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
