Chapter 4 of Motor Matt's Hard Luck is here in full — 113 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Motor Matt's Hard Luck is here in full — 113 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
OVERBOARD. Carl's yell drew the attention of all those on the boat. Brady leaned over the top of the cabin and laughed huskily. Merrick dropped his mask and joined triumphantly in Brady's laugh. The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
Chapter 4 of Motor Matt's Hard Luck is here in full — 113 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/22 · 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 a blank and uncomprehending manner
From this reading “The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.”
United States pioneer photographer famous for his portraits; was the official Union photographer for the American Civil War (1823-1896)
From this reading “Brady leaned over the top of the cabin and laughed huskily.”
possessive form of “brady” — United States pioneer photographer famous for his portraits; was the official Union photographer for the American Civil War (1823-1896)
From this reading “Merrick dropped his mask and joined triumphantly in Brady's laugh.”
a native or inhabitant of Norway
From this reading “The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.”
to extremes
From this reading “OVERBOARD.”
a native or inhabitant of Sweden
From this reading “The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.”
in a triumphant manner
From this reading “Merrick dropped his mask and joined triumphantly in Brady's laugh.”
a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
From this reading “Carl's yell drew the attention of all those on the boat.”
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 “The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.”
In this reading “Brady leaned over the top of the cabin and laughed huskily.”
In this reading “Brady leaned over the top of the cabin and laughed huskily.”
In this reading “The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.”
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 The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Carl's yell drew the attention of all those on the boat.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Brady leaned over the top of the cabin and laughed huskily.
the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others
From this reading Carl's yell drew the attention of all those on the boat.
in a blank and uncomprehending manner
From this reading The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading Carl's yell drew the attention of all those on the boat.
United States pioneer photographer famous for his portraits; was the official Union photographer for the American Civil War (1823-1896)
From this reading Brady leaned over the top of the cabin and laughed huskily.
possessive form of “brady” — United States pioneer photographer famous for his portraits; was the official Union photographer for the American Civil War (1823-1896)
From this reading Merrick dropped his mask and joined triumphantly in Brady's laugh.
small room on a ship or boat where people sleep
From this reading Brady leaned over the top of the cabin and laughed huskily.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Carl's yell drew the attention of all those on the boat.
United States actor (born in Ireland); father of Georgiana Emma Barrymore (1827-1862)
From this reading Carl's yell drew the attention of all those on the boat.
inflected form of “drop” — let fall to the ground
From this reading Merrick dropped his mask and joined triumphantly in Brady's laugh.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Merrick dropped his mask and joined triumphantly in Brady's laugh.
in a hoarse or husky voice
From this reading Brady leaned over the top of the cabin and laughed huskily.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Merrick dropped his mask and joined triumphantly in Brady's laugh.
of or relating to two people who are married to each other
From this reading Merrick dropped his mask and joined triumphantly in Brady's laugh.
the sound of laughing
From this reading Merrick dropped his mask and joined triumphantly in Brady's laugh.
past form of “laugh” — produce laughter
From this reading Brady leaned over the top of the cabin and laughed huskily.
past form of “lean” — to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading Brady leaned over the top of the cabin and laughed huskily.
hide under a false appearance
From this reading Merrick dropped his mask and joined triumphantly in Brady's laugh.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Merrick dropped his mask and joined triumphantly in Brady's laugh.
a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour
From this reading The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
a native or inhabitant of Norway
From this reading The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Carl's yell drew the attention of all those on the boat.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Carl's yell drew the attention of all those on the boat.
above and across; more than
From this reading Brady leaned over the top of the cabin and laughed huskily.
to extremes
From this reading OVERBOARD.
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
in a stolid manner
From this reading The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
a native or inhabitant of Sweden
From this reading The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Carl's yell drew the attention of all those on the boat.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
the plural of “that”: the people or things further away, or already known
From this reading Carl's yell drew the attention of all those on the boat.
the upper part of anything
From this reading Brady leaned over the top of the cabin and laughed huskily.
in a triumphant manner
From this reading Merrick dropped his mask and joined triumphantly in Brady's laugh.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading The Norwegian and the Swede stared blankly for a minute, and then went stolidly on about their work.
a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
From this reading Carl's yell drew the attention of all those on the boat.
Chapter 4 of Motor Matt's Hard Luck by Stanley R. Matthews holds 113 sentences, grouped into 23 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 4 holds 113 sentences of Motor Matt's Hard Luck, unabridged, divided into 23 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Motor Matt's Hard Luck by Stanley R. Matthews exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 113 sentences, grouped into 23 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 23 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 23 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 4 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 Motor Matt's Hard Luck by Stanley R. Matthews on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2297 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #47975 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #47975, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 191 minutes of reading across 460 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Motor Matt's Hard Luck section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of Motor Matt's Hard Luck 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 Motor Matt's Hard Luck, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
