Chapter 2 of Halfway House: A Comedy of Degrees is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Halfway House: A Comedy of Degrees is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“We’ll pass the quibble. Well—and did you deserve it?” He got a reproachful look—and was rewarded. “I did my best. I got very hot and was overtired.
Chapter 2 of Halfway House: A Comedy of Degrees is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
the supreme effort one can make
From this reading ““I did my best.”
be worthy or deserving
From this reading “Well—and did you deserve it?””
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “He got a reproachful look—and was rewarded.”
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 “I got very hot and was overtired.”
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading “He got a reproachful look—and was rewarded.”
go across or through
From this reading ““We’ll pass the quibble.”
evade the truth of a point or question by raising irrelevant objections
From this reading ““We’ll pass the quibble.”
past form of “reward” — bestow honor or rewards upon
From this reading “He got a reproachful look—and was rewarded.”
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 He got a reproachful look—and was rewarded.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Well—and did you deserve it?”
the supreme effort one can make
From this reading “I did my best.
be worthy or deserving
From this reading Well—and did you deserve it?”
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Well—and did you deserve it?”
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading He got a reproachful look—and was rewarded.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He got a reproachful look—and was rewarded.
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 I got very hot and was overtired.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I did my best.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Well—and did you deserve it?”
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He got a reproachful look—and was rewarded.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “I did my best.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I got very hot and was overtired.
go across or through
From this reading “We’ll pass the quibble.
evade the truth of a point or question by raising irrelevant objections
From this reading “We’ll pass the quibble.
expressing reproof or reproach especially as a corrective
From this reading He got a reproachful look—and was rewarded.
past form of “reward” — bestow honor or rewards upon
From this reading He got a reproachful look—and was rewarded.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “We’ll pass the quibble.
precisely as stated
From this reading I got very hot and was overtired.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He got a reproachful look—and was rewarded.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “We’ll pass the quibble.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Well—and did you deserve it?”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Well—and did you deserve it?”
Chapter 2 of Halfway House: A Comedy of Degrees by Maurice Hewlett holds 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 2 holds 414 sentences of Halfway House: A Comedy of Degrees, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Halfway House: A Comedy of Degrees by Maurice Hewlett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 2 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 Halfway House: A Comedy of Degrees by Maurice Hewlett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8241 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #59963 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #59963, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1649 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Halfway House: A Comedy of Degrees section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of Halfway House: A Comedy of Degrees 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 Halfway House: A Comedy of Degrees, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
