Chapter 2 of My Two Countries is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of My Two Countries is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I believe Chicago has a great heart as well as a great head. I always mistrust people who make the most noise. Beware of men and women who are out for themselves. That’s what keeps us all back--that awful self. Yet these people very often frighten politicians.
Chapter 2 of My Two Countries is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 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.
exceptionally bad or displeasing
From this reading “That’s what keeps us all back--that awful self.”
be on one's guard; be cautious or wary about; be alert to
From this reading “Beware of men and women who are out for themselves.”
largest city in Illinois; a bustling Great Lakes port that extends 26 miles along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan
From this reading “I believe Chicago has a great heart as well as a great head.”
cause fear in
From this reading “Yet these people very often frighten politicians.”
plural of “keep” — the financial means whereby one lives
From this reading “That’s what keeps us all back--that awful self.”
regard as untrustworthy; regard with suspicion; have no faith or confidence in
From this reading “I always mistrust people who make the most noise.”
plural of “politician” — a leader engaged in civil administration
From this reading “Yet these people very often frighten politicians.”
your consciousness of your own identity
From this reading “That’s what keeps us all back--that awful self.”
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 “Beware of men and women who are out for themselves.”
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 I believe Chicago has a great heart as well as a great head.
(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 That’s what keeps us all back--that awful self.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading I always mistrust people who make the most noise.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Beware of men and women who are out for themselves.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Beware of men and women who are out for themselves.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading I believe Chicago has a great heart as well as a great head.
exceptionally bad or displeasing
From this reading That’s what keeps us all back--that awful self.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading That’s what keeps us all back--that awful self.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading I believe Chicago has a great heart as well as a great head.
be on one's guard; be cautious or wary about; be alert to
From this reading Beware of men and women who are out for themselves.
largest city in Illinois; a bustling Great Lakes port that extends 26 miles along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan
From this reading I believe Chicago has a great heart as well as a great head.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Beware of men and women who are out for themselves.
cause fear in
From this reading Yet these people very often frighten politicians.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading I believe Chicago has a great heart as well as a great head.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I believe Chicago has a great heart as well as a great head.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading I believe Chicago has a great heart as well as a great head.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading I believe Chicago has a great heart as well as a great head.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I believe Chicago has a great heart as well as a great head.
plural of “keep” — the financial means whereby one lives
From this reading That’s what keeps us all back--that awful self.
engage in
From this reading I always mistrust people who make the most noise.
the force of workers available
From this reading Beware of men and women who are out for themselves.
regard as untrustworthy; regard with suspicion; have no faith or confidence in
From this reading I always mistrust people who make the most noise.
used to form the superlative
From this reading I always mistrust people who make the most noise.
sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound)
From this reading I always mistrust people who make the most noise.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Beware of men and women who are out for themselves.
many times at short intervals
From this reading Yet these people very often frighten politicians.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Beware of men and women who are out for themselves.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading I always mistrust people who make the most noise.
plural of “politician” — a leader engaged in civil administration
From this reading Yet these people very often frighten politicians.
your consciousness of your own identity
From this reading That’s what keeps us all back--that awful self.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That’s what keeps us all back--that awful self.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That’s what keeps us all back--that awful self.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I always mistrust people who make the most noise.
used when the people doing the action are also its object
From this reading Beware of men and women who are out for themselves.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading Yet these people very often frighten politicians.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading That’s what keeps us all back--that awful self.
precisely as stated
From this reading Yet these people very often frighten politicians.
(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 I believe Chicago has a great heart as well as a great head.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading That’s what keeps us all back--that awful self.
which person or people
From this reading I always mistrust people who make the most noise.
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Beware of men and women who are out for themselves.
but in spite of that
From this reading Yet these people very often frighten politicians.
Chapter 2 of My Two Countries by Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess Astor holds 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 2 holds 426 sentences of My Two Countries, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of My Two Countries by Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess Astor exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 2 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 Two Countries by Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess Astor on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 881 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #59054 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #59054, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 73 minutes of reading across 177 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through My Two Countries section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of My Two Countries 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 Two Countries, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
