Chapter 16 of Mad Barbara is here in full — 407 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of Mad Barbara is here in full — 407 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Ask them.” Again there was a short pause. “Have you any news from Westminster?” “What news?” “The Catholics, my friends—the rest.”
Chapter 16 of Mad Barbara is here in full — 407 sentences across 82 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.
make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading ““Ask them.””
plural of “catholic” — a member of a Catholic church
From this reading ““The Catholics, my friends—the rest.””
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading ““The Catholics, my friends—the rest.””
information about recent and important events
From this reading ““Have you any news from Westminster?””
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
From this reading “Again there was a short pause.”
not move; be in a resting position
From this reading ““The Catholics, my friends—the rest.””
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading “Again there was a short pause.”
a borough of Greater London on the Thames; contains Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey
From this reading ““Have you any news from Westminster?””
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 “Again there was a short pause.”
In this reading ““Have you any news from Westminster?””
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 Again there was a short pause.
anew
From this reading Again there was a short pause.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading “Have you any news from Westminster?”
make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “Ask them.”
plural of “catholic” — a member of a Catholic church
From this reading “The Catholics, my friends—the rest.”
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading “The Catholics, my friends—the rest.”
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading “Have you any news from Westminster?”
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “Have you any news from Westminster?”
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “The Catholics, my friends—the rest.”
information about recent and important events
From this reading “Have you any news from Westminster?”
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
From this reading Again there was a short pause.
not move; be in a resting position
From this reading “The Catholics, my friends—the rest.”
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading Again there was a short pause.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “The Catholics, my friends—the rest.”
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading “Ask them.”
in or at that place or location
From this reading Again there was a short pause.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Again there was a short pause.
a borough of Greater London on the Thames; contains Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey
From this reading “Have you any news from Westminster?”
used to ask for information about something
From this reading “What news?”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Have you any news from Westminster?”
Chapter 16 of Mad Barbara by Warwick Deeping holds 407 sentences, grouped into 82 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 16 holds 407 sentences of Mad Barbara, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of Mad Barbara by Warwick Deeping exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 407 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 16 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 Mad Barbara by Warwick Deeping on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6545 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50995 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50995, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 545 minutes of reading across 1309 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mad Barbara section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of Mad Barbara 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 Mad Barbara, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
