Chapter 17 of Make or Break is here in full — 128 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of Make or Break is here in full — 128 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE LETTER FROM FRANCE. Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house. One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice. It was taken into the kitchen, and Mrs. Checkynshaw was called. She came down, accompanied by Miss Elinora.
Chapter 17 of Make or Break is here in full — 128 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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.
having companions or an escort
From this reading “She came down, accompanied by Miss Elinora.”
past form of “conduct” — direct the course of; manage or control
From this reading “Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.”
past form of “knock” — deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading “Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.”
(astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Leo
From this reading “Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.”
plural of “mouse” — any of numerous small rodents typically resembling diminutive rats having pointed snouts and small ears on elongated bodies with slender usually hairless tails
From this reading “One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.”
a large and stately mansion
From this reading “One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.”
a request to be present
From this reading “One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.”
a cooperative unit (especially in sports)
From this reading “Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.”
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 “One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.”
In this reading “It was taken into the kitchen, and Mrs. Checkynshaw was called.”
a man who is wealthy
In this reading “Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.”
In this reading “Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.”
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
In this reading “She came down, accompanied by Miss Elinora.”
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.
having companions or an escort
From this reading She came down, accompanied by Miss Elinora.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
past form of “answer” — react verbally
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading She came down, accompanied by Miss Elinora.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading It was taken into the kitchen, and Mrs. Checkynshaw was called.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading She came down, accompanied by Miss Elinora.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was taken into the kitchen, and Mrs. Checkynshaw was called.
past form of “conduct” — direct the course of; manage or control
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading She came down, accompanied by Miss Elinora.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She came down, accompanied by Miss Elinora.
a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe
From this reading THE LETTER FROM FRANCE.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading THE LETTER FROM FRANCE.
plural of “girl” — a young female
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading It was taken into the kitchen, and Mrs. Checkynshaw was called.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was taken into the kitchen, and Mrs. Checkynshaw was called.
a room equipped for preparing meals
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
past form of “knock” — deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
(astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Leo
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading THE LETTER FROM FRANCE.
possessive form of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
plural of “mouse” — any of numerous small rodents typically resembling diminutive rats having pointed snouts and small ears on elongated bodies with slender usually hairless tails
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading She came down, accompanied by Miss Elinora.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading It was taken into the kitchen, and Mrs. Checkynshaw was called.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
a large and stately mansion
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
possessing material wealth
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
cut with a saw
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
make square
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
a request to be present
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading It was taken into the kitchen, and Mrs. Checkynshaw was called.
a cooperative unit (especially in sports)
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE LETTER FROM FRANCE.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Leo conducted his team to Pemberton Square, and knocked at the back door of the rich man's house.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
at the time that
From this reading One of the kitchen girls answered the summons, and great was her surprise when she saw the palace of the mice.
Chapter 17 of Make or Break by Oliver Optic holds 128 sentences, grouped into 26 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 17 holds 128 sentences of Make or Break, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of Make or Break by Oliver Optic exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 128 sentences, grouped into 26 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 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 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 17 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.
