Chapter 4 of Happy Island: A New "Uncle William" Story is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Happy Island: A New "Uncle William" Story is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He glanced down the road. “There’s Celia comin’,” he said happily. He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!” The smile on his big face kindled and deepened. “It’s most too bad George ain’t here.”
Chapter 4 of Happy Island: A New "Uncle William" Story is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 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.
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading ““It’s most too bad George ain’t here.””
past form of “deepen” — make more intense, stronger, or more marked
From this reading “The smile on his big face kindled and deepened.”
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading ““It’s most too bad George ain’t here.””
past form of “glance” — throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading “He glanced down the road.”
in a joyous manner
From this reading ““There’s Celia comin’,” he said happily.”
set afire
From this reading “The smile on his big face kindled and deepened.”
travel on the surface of water
From this reading “He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!””
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading “He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!””
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.
deserving regret
In this reading ““It’s most too bad George ain’t here.””
In this reading “He glanced down the road.”
hold a review (of troops)
In this reading “He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!””
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “It’s most too bad George ain’t here.”
following the length of something from one end toward the other
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading “It’s most too bad George ain’t here.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The smile on his big face kindled and deepened.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “There’s Celia comin’,” he said happily.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “There’s Celia comin’,” he said happily.
past form of “deepen” — make more intense, stronger, or more marked
From this reading The smile on his big face kindled and deepened.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He glanced down the road.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading The smile on his big face kindled and deepened.
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading “It’s most too bad George ain’t here.”
past form of “glance” — throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading He glanced down the road.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
in a joyous manner
From this reading “There’s Celia comin’,” he said happily.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He glanced down the road.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading “It’s most too bad George ain’t here.”
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The smile on his big face kindled and deepened.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “It’s most too bad George ain’t here.”
having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
set afire
From this reading The smile on his big face kindled and deepened.
used to form the superlative
From this reading “It’s most too bad George ain’t here.”
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The smile on his big face kindled and deepened.
above and across; more than
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading He glanced down the road.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “There’s Celia comin’,” he said happily.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
travel on the surface of water
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading The smile on his big face kindled and deepened.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He glanced down the road.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “There’s Celia comin’,” he said happily.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading “It’s most too bad George ain’t here.”
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading He went over and watched her come—“Don’t she kind o’ skim along good, Benjy!”
Chapter 4 of Happy Island: A New "Uncle William" Story by Jennette Lee holds 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 4 holds 405 sentences of Happy Island: A New "Uncle William" Story, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Happy Island: A New "Uncle William" Story by Jennette Lee exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 4 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 Happy Island: A New "Uncle William" Story by Jennette Lee on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3602 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #52700 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #52700, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 300 minutes of reading across 721 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Happy Island: A New "Uncle William" Story section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of Happy Island: A New "Uncle William" Story 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 Happy Island: A New "Uncle William" Story, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
