Chapter 12 of My Friend Smith is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of My Friend Smith is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. HOW A DOOR CLOSED BETWEEN MY FRIEND SMITH AND ME. If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea. But now the impossible thing had happened. That night as I lay awake in my bed I felt that I had not a friend in the world.
Chapter 12 of My Friend Smith is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
not in a state of sleep; completely conscious
From this reading “That night as I lay awake in my bed I felt that I had not a friend in the world.”
completely unclothed
From this reading “If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.”
a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
From this reading “CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.”
not open or affording passage or access
From this reading “HOW A DOOR CLOSED BETWEEN MY FRIEND SMITH AND ME.”
not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with
From this reading “But now the impossible thing had happened.”
one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading “If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.”
an angry dispute
From this reading “If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.”
Rhodesian statesman who declared independence of Zimbabwe from Great Britain (born in 1919)
From this reading “HOW A DOOR CLOSED BETWEEN MY FRIEND SMITH AND ME.”
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 HOW A DOOR CLOSED BETWEEN MY FRIEND SMITH AND ME.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading HOW A DOOR CLOSED BETWEEN MY FRIEND SMITH AND ME.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading That night as I lay awake in my bed I felt that I had not a friend in the world.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
not in a state of sleep; completely conscious
From this reading That night as I lay awake in my bed I felt that I had not a friend in the world.
completely unclothed
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading That night as I lay awake in my bed I felt that I had not a friend in the world.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading HOW A DOOR CLOSED BETWEEN MY FRIEND SMITH AND ME.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But now the impossible thing had happened.
a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
From this reading CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
not open or affording passage or access
From this reading HOW A DOOR CLOSED BETWEEN MY FRIEND SMITH AND ME.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading HOW A DOOR CLOSED BETWEEN MY FRIEND SMITH AND ME.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading That night as I lay awake in my bed I felt that I had not a friend in the world.
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading HOW A DOOR CLOSED BETWEEN MY FRIEND SMITH AND ME.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
past form of “happen” — come to pass
From this reading But now the impossible thing had happened.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading HOW A DOOR CLOSED BETWEEN MY FRIEND SMITH AND ME.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with
From this reading But now the impossible thing had happened.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading That night as I lay awake in my bed I felt that I had not a friend in the world.
past form of “laugh” — produce laughter
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading That night as I lay awake in my bed I felt that I had not a friend in the world.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading HOW A DOOR CLOSED BETWEEN MY FRIEND SMITH AND ME.
one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading HOW A DOOR CLOSED BETWEEN MY FRIEND SMITH AND ME.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading That night as I lay awake in my bed I felt that I had not a friend in the world.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading That night as I lay awake in my bed I felt that I had not a friend in the world.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading But now the impossible thing had happened.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
an angry dispute
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
Rhodesian statesman who declared independence of Zimbabwe from Great Britain (born in 1919)
From this reading HOW A DOOR CLOSED BETWEEN MY FRIEND SMITH AND ME.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
a special situation
From this reading But now the impossible thing had happened.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nineteen and one
From this reading CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
in the company of; together with
From this reading If any one had told me a month before that I should quarrel with my friend Smith, I should have laughed at the bare idea.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading That night as I lay awake in my bed I felt that I had not a friend in the world.
Chapter 12 of My Friend Smith by Talbot Baines Reed holds 425 sentences, grouped into 85 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 12 holds 425 sentences of My Friend Smith, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of My Friend Smith by Talbot Baines Reed exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 425 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 12 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 My Friend Smith by Talbot Baines Reed on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8701 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #21036 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #21036, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1741 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through My Friend Smith section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 21 chapters of My Friend Smith 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 My Friend Smith, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
