Chapter 3 of Great Opera Stories is here in full — 445 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Great Opera Stories is here in full — 445 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Sir Walter stepped forward, and Veit Pogner greeted him kindly. Surely so handsome a knight should be favored. Hans Sachs came forward, also. And all agreed that Sir Walter should be given an opportunity. Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.
Chapter 3 of Great Opera Stories is here in full — 445 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/89 · 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.
preferred above all others and treated with partiality
From this reading “Surely so handsome a knight should be favored.”
extremely impressive in strength or excellence
From this reading “Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.”
past form of “greet” — express greetings upon meeting someone
From this reading “Sir Walter stepped forward, and Veit Pogner greeted him kindly.”
plural of “han” — imperial dynasty that ruled China (most of the time from 206 BC to AD 220) and expanded its boundaries and developed its bureaucracy; remembered as one of the great eras of Chinese civilization
From this reading “Hans Sachs came forward, also.”
a feeling of intense anger
From this reading “Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.”
be equal to in quality or ability
From this reading “Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.”
tangled in knots or snarls
From this reading “Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.”
German conductor (1876-1962)
From this reading “Sir Walter stepped forward, and Veit Pogner greeted him kindly.”
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.
make oneself visible; take action
In this reading “Hans Sachs came forward, also.”
In this reading “Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.”
In this reading “Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.”
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 Surely so handsome a knight should be favored.
united by being of the same opinion
From this reading And all agreed that Sir Walter should be given an opportunity.
(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 And all agreed that Sir Walter should be given an opportunity.
in addition
From this reading Hans Sachs came forward, also.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading And all agreed that Sir Walter should be given an opportunity.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Sir Walter stepped forward, and Veit Pogner greeted him kindly.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Surely so handsome a knight should be favored.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Hans Sachs came forward, also.
preferred above all others and treated with partiality
From this reading Surely so handsome a knight should be favored.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.
extremely impressive in strength or excellence
From this reading Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.
at or to or toward the front
From this reading Sir Walter stepped forward, and Veit Pogner greeted him kindly.
acknowledged as a supposition
From this reading And all agreed that Sir Walter should be given an opportunity.
past form of “greet” — express greetings upon meeting someone
From this reading Sir Walter stepped forward, and Veit Pogner greeted him kindly.
pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion
From this reading Surely so handsome a knight should be favored.
plural of “han” — imperial dynasty that ruled China (most of the time from 206 BC to AD 220) and expanded its boundaries and developed its bureaucracy; remembered as one of the great eras of Chinese civilization
From this reading Hans Sachs came forward, also.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Sir Walter stepped forward, and Veit Pogner greeted him kindly.
showing or motivated by sympathy and understanding and generosity
From this reading Sir Walter stepped forward, and Veit Pogner greeted him kindly.
originally a person of noble birth trained to arms and chivalry; today in Great Britain a person honored by the sovereign for personal merit
From this reading Surely so handsome a knight should be favored.
and nothing more
From this reading Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.
a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances
From this reading And all agreed that Sir Walter should be given an opportunity.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sir Walter stepped forward, and Veit Pogner greeted him kindly.
a feeling of intense anger
From this reading Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.
be equal to in quality or ability
From this reading Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Hans Sachs came forward, also.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading Surely so handsome a knight should be favored.
term of address for a man
From this reading Sir Walter stepped forward, and Veit Pogner greeted him kindly.
tangled in knots or snarls
From this reading Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Surely so handsome a knight should be favored.
inflected form of “step” — shift or move by taking a step
From this reading Sir Walter stepped forward, and Veit Pogner greeted him kindly.
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading Surely so handsome a knight should be favored.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading And all agreed that Sir Walter should be given an opportunity.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sir Walter stepped forward, and Veit Pogner greeted him kindly.
German conductor (1876-1962)
From this reading Sir Walter stepped forward, and Veit Pogner greeted him kindly.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading Only Beckmesser snarled with rage, for the young knight was a formidable rival.
Chapter 3 of Great Opera Stories by Millicent Schwab Bender holds 445 sentences, grouped into 89 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 3 holds 445 sentences of Great Opera Stories, unabridged, divided into 89 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Great Opera Stories by Millicent Schwab Bender exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 445 sentences, grouped into 89 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 89 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 89 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 3 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 Great Opera Stories by Millicent Schwab Bender on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2207 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #38654 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #38654, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 183 minutes of reading across 442 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Great Opera Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Great Opera 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 Great Opera Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
