Chapter 1 of Living Up to Billy is here in full — 418 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Living Up to Billy is here in full — 418 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
AUTHOR OF "MY LADY OF THE CHINESE COURTYARD," "SAYONARA," ETC. Two years! Only two years, what do you think of it! Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench. You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
Chapter 1 of Living Up to Billy is here in full — 418 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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 "MY LADY OF THE CHINESE COURTYARD," "SAYONARA," ETC.”
a long seat for more than one person
From this reading “Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench.”
any of the Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in China; regarded as dialects of a single language (even though they are mutually unintelligible) because they share an ideographic writing system
From this reading “AUTHOR OF "MY LADY OF THE CHINESE COURTYARD," "SAYONARA," ETC.”
An unroofed area that is completely or partially enclosed by the walls of a house.
From this reading “AUTHOR OF "MY LADY OF THE CHINESE COURTYARD," "SAYONARA," ETC.”
plural of “good” — benefit
From this reading “You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.”
determine the result of (a competition)
From this reading “Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench.”
anything (such as a document or a phonograph record or a photograph) providing permanent evidence of or information about past events
From this reading “You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.”
plural of “stretch” — a large and unbroken expanse or distance
From this reading “You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.”
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.
In this reading “Two years!”
In this reading “Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench.”
keep in mind for attention or consideration
In this reading “Only two years, what do you think of it!”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MY LADY OF THE CHINESE COURTYARD," "SAYONARA," ETC.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
a long seat for more than one person
From this reading Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
any of the Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in China; regarded as dialects of a single language (even though they are mutually unintelligible) because they share an ideographic writing system
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MY LADY OF THE CHINESE COURTYARD," "SAYONARA," ETC.
An unroofed area that is completely or partially enclosed by the walls of a house.
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MY LADY OF THE CHINESE COURTYARD," "SAYONARA," ETC.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Only two years, what do you think of it!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MY LADY OF THE CHINESE COURTYARD," "SAYONARA," ETC.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
plural of “good” — benefit
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Only two years, what do you think of it!
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
determine the result of (a competition)
From this reading Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MY LADY OF THE CHINESE COURTYARD," "SAYONARA," ETC.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MY LADY OF THE CHINESE COURTYARD," "SAYONARA," ETC.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MY LADY OF THE CHINESE COURTYARD," "SAYONARA," ETC.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench.
and nothing more
From this reading Only two years, what do you think of it!
anything (such as a document or a phonograph record or a photograph) providing permanent evidence of or information about past events
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
precisely, exactly
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
express in words
From this reading Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench.
a farewell remark
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MY LADY OF THE CHINESE COURTYARD," "SAYONARA," ETC.
plural of “stretch” — a large and unbroken expanse or distance
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MY LADY OF THE CHINESE COURTYARD," "SAYONARA," ETC.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading Only two years, what do you think of it!
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two years!
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Only two years, what do you think of it!
at the time that
From this reading Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why, when I heard the judge say two years, I nearly fell off the bench.
in the company of; together with
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
a late time of life
From this reading Two years!
but in spite of that
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Only two years, what do you think of it!
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You were caught with the goods, and he had your record with its two stretches right before him, yet he only gave you two years.
Chapter 1 of Living Up to Billy by Elizabeth Cooper holds 418 sentences, grouped into 84 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 418 sentences of Living Up to Billy, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Living Up to Billy by Elizabeth Cooper exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 418 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 Living Up to Billy by Elizabeth Cooper on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1646 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33264 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33264, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 137 minutes of reading across 330 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Living Up to Billy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of Living Up to Billy 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 Living Up to Billy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
