Chapter 12 of In Both Worlds is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of In Both Worlds is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue. Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance. That evening he was plunged in a deep and painful reverie. Neither Martha nor Mary Magdalen could engage him in conversation. He sat with head between his hands.
Chapter 12 of In Both Worlds is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
plural of “assurance” — freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities
From this reading “The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.”
past form of “cheer” — give encouragement to
From this reading “The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.”
recovery or preservation from loss or danger
From this reading “Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.”
carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in
From this reading “Neither Martha nor Mary Magdalen could engage him in conversation.”
a reformed prostitute
From this reading “Neither Martha nor Mary Magdalen could engage him in conversation.”
characteristic of maturity
From this reading “Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.”
absentminded dreaming while awake
From this reading “That evening he was plunged in a deep and painful reverie.”
characterized by speed; moving with or capable of moving with high speed
From this reading “The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.”
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 man who is very old
In this reading “The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.”
In this reading “The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.”
In this reading “Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.”
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 That evening he was plunged in a deep and painful reverie.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
plural of “assurance” — freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading He sat with head between his hands.
past form of “cheer” — give encouragement to
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
the use of speech for informal exchange of views or ideas or information etc.
From this reading Neither Martha nor Mary Magdalen could engage him in conversation.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Neither Martha nor Mary Magdalen could engage him in conversation.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.
relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply
From this reading That evening he was plunged in a deep and painful reverie.
recovery or preservation from loss or danger
From this reading Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.
well in the past; former
From this reading Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.
carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in
From this reading Neither Martha nor Mary Magdalen could engage him in conversation.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading That evening he was plunged in a deep and painful reverie.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading He sat with head between his hands.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading He sat with head between his hands.
give help or assistance; be of service
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Neither Martha nor Mary Magdalen could engage him in conversation.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He sat with head between his hands.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading That evening he was plunged in a deep and painful reverie.
a reformed prostitute
From this reading Neither Martha nor Mary Magdalen could engage him in conversation.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Neither Martha nor Mary Magdalen could engage him in conversation.
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading Neither Martha nor Mary Magdalen could engage him in conversation.
characteristic of maturity
From this reading Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.
not one and not the other of two
From this reading Neither Martha nor Mary Magdalen could engage him in conversation.
and not; used after a negative to add a second negative
From this reading Neither Martha nor Mary Magdalen could engage him in conversation.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
causing physical or psychological pain
From this reading That evening he was plunged in a deep and painful reverie.
have the will and intention to carry out some action
From this reading Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.
past form of “plunge” — thrust or throw into
From this reading That evening he was plunged in a deep and painful reverie.
plural of “promise” — a verbal commitment by one person to another agreeing to do (or not to do) something in the future
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
showing possibility of achievement or excellence
From this reading Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.
free from harm or evil
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
absentminded dreaming while awake
From this reading That evening he was plunged in a deep and painful reverie.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading He sat with head between his hands.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.
characterized by speed; moving with or capable of moving with high speed
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
given to sympathy or gentleness or sentimentality
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That evening he was plunged in a deep and painful reverie.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.
two times
From this reading Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.
go to see a place, as for entertainment
From this reading Promising to visit her twice every day, he departed to mature some plan for her deliverance.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading That evening he was plunged in a deep and painful reverie.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
the words that are spoken
From this reading The old man cheered her with many tender words and promises of help and assurances of speedy rescue.
Chapter 12 of In Both Worlds by William H. (William Henry) Holcombe holds 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 12 holds 400 sentences of In Both Worlds, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of In Both Worlds by William H. (William Henry) Holcombe exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 12 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 In Both Worlds by William H. (William Henry) Holcombe on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5630 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36342 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36342, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 469 minutes of reading across 1126 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through In Both Worlds section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of In Both Worlds 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 In Both Worlds, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
