Chapter 9 of Mortmain is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of Mortmain is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before. "My friend, how long have you been in this business?" The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation. "Five years on a percentage--ten years on my own--fifteen years, sir." "You know the town pretty well, eh?"
Chapter 9 of Mortmain is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
conforming exactly or almost exactly to fact or to a standard or performing with total accuracy
From this reading “The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation.”
disposed to please
From this reading “Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.”
someone who drives a taxi for a living
From this reading “The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation.”
the procedure of calculating; determining something by mathematical or logical methods
From this reading “The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation.”
an agenda of things to do
From this reading “Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.”
past form of “hesitate” — pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
From this reading “The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation.”
of or pertaining to or of the nature of mathematics
From this reading “The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation.”
a proportion in relation to a whole (which is usually the amount per hundred)
From this reading “"Five years on a percentage--ten years on my own--fifteen years, sir."”
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 “"Five years on a percentage--ten years on my own--fifteen years, sir."”
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 "Five years on a percentage--ten years on my own--fifteen years, sir."
conforming exactly or almost exactly to fact or to a standard or performing with total accuracy
From this reading The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation.
anew
From this reading Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.
disposed to please
From this reading Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading "My friend, how long have you been in this business?"
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading "My friend, how long have you been in this business?"
someone who drives a taxi for a living
From this reading The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation.
the procedure of calculating; determining something by mathematical or logical methods
From this reading The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "You know the town pretty well, eh?"
divisible by two
From this reading Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.
an agenda of things to do
From this reading Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.
the cardinal number that is the sum of fourteen and one
From this reading "Five years on a percentage--ten years on my own--fifteen years, sir."
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading "Five years on a percentage--ten years on my own--fifteen years, sir."
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading "My friend, how long have you been in this business?"
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "My friend, how long have you been in this business?"
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation.
past form of “hesitate” — pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
From this reading The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "My friend, how long have you been in this business?"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "You know the town pretty well, eh?"
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading "My friend, how long have you been in this business?"
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation.
of or pertaining to or of the nature of mathematics
From this reading The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "My friend, how long have you been in this business?"
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "Five years on a percentage--ten years on my own--fifteen years, sir."
have ownership or possession of
From this reading "Five years on a percentage--ten years on my own--fifteen years, sir."
a proportion in relation to a whole (which is usually the amount per hundred)
From this reading "Five years on a percentage--ten years on my own--fifteen years, sir."
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading "You know the town pretty well, eh?"
term of address for a man
From this reading "Five years on a percentage--ten years on my own--fifteen years, sir."
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
From this reading "Five years on a percentage--ten years on my own--fifteen years, sir."
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "My friend, how long have you been in this business?"
the quality of a person's voice
From this reading Suddenly the fare spoke again, in an even more amiable tone than before.
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading "You know the town pretty well, eh?"
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "You know the town pretty well, eh?"
during the time that
From this reading The cabby hesitated while he made an accurate mathematical computation.
a late time of life
From this reading "Five years on a percentage--ten years on my own--fifteen years, sir."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "My friend, how long have you been in this business?"
Chapter 9 of Mortmain by Arthur Cheney Train holds 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 9 holds 414 sentences of Mortmain, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of Mortmain by Arthur Cheney Train exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 9 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 Mortmain by Arthur Cheney Train on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6207 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #37346 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #37346, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 517 minutes of reading across 1242 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mortmain section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of Mortmain 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 Mortmain, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
