Chapter 3 of Make or Break is here in full — 142 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Make or Break is here in full — 142 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MR. CHECKYNSHAW IS VIOLENT. MR. Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street. The situation was just as far from pleasant as it could be.
Chapter 3 of Make or Break is here in full — 142 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 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.
in an anxiously nervous manner
From this reading “Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.”
affording pleasure; being in harmony with your taste or likings
From this reading “The situation was just as far from pleasant as it could be.”
the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time
From this reading “The situation was just as far from pleasant as it could be.”
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading “Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.”
the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation
From this reading “Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.”
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading “Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.”
acting with or marked by or resulting from great force or energy or emotional intensity
From this reading “CHECKYNSHAW IS VIOLENT.”
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading “Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.”
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.
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 Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The situation was just as far from pleasant as it could be.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The situation was just as far from pleasant as it could be.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CHECKYNSHAW IS VIOLENT.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading The situation was just as far from pleasant as it could be.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading The situation was just as far from pleasant as it could be.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading CHECKYNSHAW IS VIOLENT.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The situation was just as far from pleasant as it could be.
and nothing more
From this reading The situation was just as far from pleasant as it could be.
a form of address for a man
From this reading MR.
in an anxiously nervous manner
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
affording pleasure; being in harmony with your taste or likings
From this reading The situation was just as far from pleasant as it could be.
the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time
From this reading The situation was just as far from pleasant as it could be.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
acting with or marked by or resulting from great force or energy or emotional intensity
From this reading CHECKYNSHAW IS VIOLENT.
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The situation was just as far from pleasant as it could be.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Fitzherbert Wittleworth walked slowly and nervously from his home to the banking-house in State Street.
Chapter 3 of Make or Break by Oliver Optic holds 142 sentences, grouped into 29 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 3 holds 142 sentences of Make or Break, unabridged, divided into 29 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Make or Break by Oliver Optic exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 142 sentences, grouped into 29 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 29 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 29 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 3 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 Make or Break by Oliver Optic on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3574 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26695 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26695, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 297 minutes of reading across 715 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Make or Break section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of Make or Break 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 Make or Break, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
