Chapter 1 of Half Portions is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Half Portions is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it. Their fathers wouldn't prefer caviar to pork roast, would they? It's the same idea." Her shop windows reflected her business acumen. One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.
Chapter 1 of Half Portions is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 33/83 · 5 reading units · Lines 161–165
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 tapering point
From this reading “Her shop windows reflected her business acumen.”
salted roe of sturgeon or other large fish; usually served as an hors d'oeuvre
From this reading “Their fathers wouldn't prefer caviar to pork roast, would they?”
refined and tasteful in appearance or behavior or style
From this reading “One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.”
marked by balance or equilibrium and readiness for action
From this reading “One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.”
meat from a domestic hog or pig
From this reading “Their fathers wouldn't prefer caviar to pork roast, would they?”
cook with dry heat, usually in an oven
From this reading “Their fathers wouldn't prefer caviar to pork roast, would they?”
to a severe or serious degree
From this reading “One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.”
a silky densely piled fabric with a plain back
From this reading “They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it.”
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 They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it.
a tapering point
From this reading Her shop windows reflected her business acumen.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it.
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading Her shop windows reflected her business acumen.
salted roe of sturgeon or other large fish; usually served as an hors d'oeuvre
From this reading Their fathers wouldn't prefer caviar to pork roast, would they?
in a chaste and virtuous manner
From this reading One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.
refined and tasteful in appearance or behavior or style
From this reading One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.
plural of “father” — a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading Their fathers wouldn't prefer caviar to pork roast, would they?
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it.
headdress that protects the head from bad weather; has shaped crown and usually a brim
From this reading They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Her shop windows reflected her business acumen.
the act of retaining something
From this reading One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading It's the same idea."
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's the same idea."
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.
marked by balance or equilibrium and readiness for action
From this reading One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.
meat from a domestic hog or pig
From this reading Their fathers wouldn't prefer caviar to pork roast, would they?
like better; value more highly
From this reading Their fathers wouldn't prefer caviar to pork roast, would they?
(especially of incident sound or light) bent or sent back
From this reading Her shop windows reflected her business acumen.
cook with dry heat, usually in an oven
From this reading Their fathers wouldn't prefer caviar to pork roast, would they?
Identical; not different.
From this reading It's the same idea."
to a severe or serious degree
From this reading One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.
do one's shopping
From this reading Her shop windows reflected her business acumen.
being or characteristic of a single thing or person
From this reading One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.
being of delicate or slender build
From this reading One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.
characterized by good substantial quality
From this reading They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it.
put, fix, force, or implant
From this reading One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It's the same idea."
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Their fathers wouldn't prefer caviar to pork roast, would they?
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Their fathers wouldn't prefer caviar to pork roast, would they?
a silky densely piled fabric with a plain back
From this reading They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading One was chastely, severely elegant, holding a single hat poised on a slender stick.
(trademark) an operating system with a graphical user interface
From this reading Her shop windows reflected her business acumen.
in the company of; together with
From this reading They want a velvet hat with something good and solid on it.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Their fathers wouldn't prefer caviar to pork roast, would they?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Their fathers wouldn't prefer caviar to pork roast, would they?
Chapter 1 of Half Portions by Edna Ferber holds 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 1 holds 416 sentences of Half Portions, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Half Portions by Edna Ferber exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 1 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 Half Portions by Edna Ferber on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5692 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #14714 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #14714, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 474 minutes of reading across 1139 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Half Portions section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of Half Portions 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 Half Portions, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
