Chapter 11 of Half Portions is here in full — 407 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XI
Chapter 11 of Half Portions is here in full — 407 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"There's a beautiful one, T.A.! The Canadian officer with the limp. They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em! What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!" Buck cut a vicious little semi-circle in the air with his walking stick.
Chapter 11 of Half Portions is here in full — 407 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.
to strive with determination
From this reading “Buck cut a vicious little semi-circle in the air with his walking stick.”
of or relating to Canada or its people
From this reading “The Canadian officer with the limp.”
harmed or injured or spoiled
From this reading “What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"”
inflected form of “gas” — attack with gas; subject to gas fumes
From this reading “They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!”
walk impeded by some physical limitation or injury
From this reading “The Canadian officer with the limp.”
put, fix, force, or implant
From this reading “Buck cut a vicious little semi-circle in the air with his walking stick.”
the part of the leg between the hip and the knee
From this reading “They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!”
(of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
From this reading “Buck cut a vicious little semi-circle in the air with his walking stick.”
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 "There's a beautiful one, T.A.!
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading Buck cut a vicious little semi-circle in the air with his walking stick.
(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 They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading "There's a beautiful one, T.A.!
the past participle of “be”
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
to strive with determination
From this reading Buck cut a vicious little semi-circle in the air with his walking stick.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"
of or relating to Canada or its people
From this reading The Canadian officer with the limp.
separate with or as if with an instrument
From this reading Buck cut a vicious little semi-circle in the air with his walking stick.
harmed or injured or spoiled
From this reading What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"
a quad with a square body
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
inflected form of “gas” — attack with gas; subject to gas fumes
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Buck cut a vicious little semi-circle in the air with his walking stick.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"
walk impeded by some physical limitation or injury
From this reading The Canadian officer with the limp.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Buck cut a vicious little semi-circle in the air with his walking stick.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"
any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command
From this reading The Canadian officer with the limp.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading "There's a beautiful one, T.A.!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Buck cut a vicious little semi-circle in the air with his walking stick.
the cardinal number that is the sum of six and one
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
the act of firing a projectile
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
lift onto one's shoulders
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
put, fix, force, or implant
From this reading Buck cut a vicious little semi-circle in the air with his walking stick.
express a supposition
From this reading What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"
a base found in DNA (but not in RNA) and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with adenine
From this reading "There's a beautiful one, T.A.!
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Canadian officer with the limp.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "There's a beautiful one, T.A.!
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
the part of the leg between the hip and the knee
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
a more or less definite period of time now or previously present
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
(of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
From this reading Buck cut a vicious little semi-circle in the air with his walking stick.
close enough to be walked to
From this reading Buck cut a vicious little semi-circle in the air with his walking stick.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"
at the time that
From this reading What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"
in the company of; together with
From this reading The Canadian officer with the limp.
but in spite of that
From this reading They've all been gassed, and shot five times in the thigh and seven in the shoulder, and yet look at 'em!
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading What do you suppose they were when they were new if they can look like that, damaged!"
Chapter 11 of Half Portions by Edna Ferber holds 407 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 11 holds 407 sentences of Half Portions, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 11 of Half Portions by Edna Ferber exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 407 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 11 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.
