Chapter 1 of Happy-Thought Hall is here in full — 164 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Happy-Thought Hall is here in full — 164 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HAPPY-THOUGHT HALL. AUTHOR OF "HAPPY THOUGHTS," "MORE HAPPY THOUGHTS," "OUT OF TOWN," &c. BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS. 1872. _Happy Thought._--To get a country house for the winter.
Chapter 1 of Happy-Thought Hall is here in full — 164 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/32 · 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.
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading “AUTHOR OF "HAPPY THOUGHTS," "MORE HAPPY THOUGHTS," "OUT OF TOWN," &c.”
state capital and largest city of Massachusetts; a major center for banking and financial services
From this reading “BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS.”
plural of “brother” — a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading “BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS.”
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading “HAPPY-THOUGHT HALL.”
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading “HAPPY-THOUGHT HALL.”
United States biochemist (born in England) honored for his discovery that some genes contain introns (born in 1943)
From this reading “BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS.”
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading “AUTHOR OF "HAPPY THOUGHTS," "MORE HAPPY THOUGHTS," "OUT OF TOWN," &c.”
the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading “_Happy Thought._--To get a country house for the winter.”
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.
a house (usually large and impressive) on an estate in the country
In this reading “_Happy Thought._--To get a country house for the winter.”
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 1872.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading _Happy Thought._--To get a country house for the winter.
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading AUTHOR OF "HAPPY THOUGHTS," "MORE HAPPY THOUGHTS," "OUT OF TOWN," &c.
state capital and largest city of Massachusetts; a major center for banking and financial services
From this reading BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS.
plural of “brother” — a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS.
a degree on the centigrade scale of temperature
From this reading AUTHOR OF "HAPPY THOUGHTS," "MORE HAPPY THOUGHTS," "OUT OF TOWN," &c.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading _Happy Thought._--To get a country house for the winter.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading _Happy Thought._--To get a country house for the winter.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading _Happy Thought._--To get a country house for the winter.
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading HAPPY-THOUGHT HALL.
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading AUTHOR OF "HAPPY THOUGHTS," "MORE HAPPY THOUGHTS," "OUT OF TOWN," &c.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading HAPPY-THOUGHT HALL.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading _Happy Thought._--To get a country house for the winter.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading AUTHOR OF "HAPPY THOUGHTS," "MORE HAPPY THOUGHTS," "OUT OF TOWN," &c.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading AUTHOR OF "HAPPY THOUGHTS," "MORE HAPPY THOUGHTS," "OUT OF TOWN," &c.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading AUTHOR OF "HAPPY THOUGHTS," "MORE HAPPY THOUGHTS," "OUT OF TOWN," &c.
United States biochemist (born in England) honored for his discovery that some genes contain introns (born in 1943)
From this reading BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading _Happy Thought._--To get a country house for the winter.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading _Happy Thought._--To get a country house for the winter.
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading AUTHOR OF "HAPPY THOUGHTS," "MORE HAPPY THOUGHTS," "OUT OF TOWN," &c.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading _Happy Thought._--To get a country house for the winter.
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading AUTHOR OF "HAPPY THOUGHTS," "MORE HAPPY THOUGHTS," "OUT OF TOWN," &c.
the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading _Happy Thought._--To get a country house for the winter.
Chapter 1 of Happy-Thought Hall by F. C. (Francis Cowley) Burnand holds 164 sentences, grouped into 33 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 164 sentences of Happy-Thought Hall, unabridged, divided into 33 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Happy-Thought Hall by F. C. (Francis Cowley) Burnand exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 164 sentences, grouped into 33 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 33 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 33 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 Happy-Thought Hall by F. C. (Francis Cowley) Burnand on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3094 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26281 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26281, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 257 minutes of reading across 619 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Happy-Thought Hall section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of Happy-Thought Hall 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-Thought Hall, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
