Chapter 31 of My Wife and I is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXXI
Chapter 31 of My Wife and I is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE EXPLOSION. "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good. The Van Arsdels are blown to thunder. The old one has failed for a million. Gone to smash on that Lightning Railroad, and there you all are!
Chapter 31 of My Wife and I is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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.
fruit with red or yellow or green skin and sweet to tart crisp whitish flesh
From this reading “"Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.”
being moved or acted upon by moving air or vapor
From this reading “The Van Arsdels are blown to thunder.”
-ing form of “burst” — come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading “"Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.”
perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment
From this reading “"Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.”
a violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction
From this reading “THE EXPLOSION.”
line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight
From this reading “Gone to smash on that Lightning Railroad, and there you all are!”
hit hard
From this reading “Gone to smash on that Lightning Railroad, and there you all are!”
disturb the balance or stability of
From this reading “"Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.”
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 “"Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.”
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 old one has failed for a million.
(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 Gone to smash on that Lightning Railroad, and there you all are!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Gone to smash on that Lightning Railroad, and there you all are!
fruit with red or yellow or green skin and sweet to tart crisp whitish flesh
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The Van Arsdels are blown to thunder.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Van Arsdels are blown to thunder.
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
being moved or acted upon by moving air or vapor
From this reading The Van Arsdels are blown to thunder.
-ing form of “burst” — come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
a violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction
From this reading THE EXPLOSION.
past form of “fail” — fail to do something; leave something undone
From this reading The old one has failed for a million.
plural of “fellow” — a boy or man
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
destroyed or killed
From this reading Gone to smash on that Lightning Railroad, and there you all are!
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The old one has failed for a million.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading Gone to smash on that Lightning Railroad, and there you all are!
the number that is represented as a one followed by 6 zeros
From this reading The old one has failed for a million.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The old one has failed for a million.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Gone to smash on that Lightning Railroad, and there you all are!
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The old one has failed for a million.
line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight
From this reading Gone to smash on that Lightning Railroad, and there you all are!
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
hit hard
From this reading Gone to smash on that Lightning Railroad, and there you all are!
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Gone to smash on that Lightning Railroad, and there you all are!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE EXPLOSION.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Gone to smash on that Lightning Railroad, and there you all are!
move fast, noisily, and heavily
From this reading The Van Arsdels are blown to thunder.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The Van Arsdels are blown to thunder.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
disturb the balance or stability of
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
any creative group active in the innovation and application of new concepts and techniques in a given field (especially in the arts)
From this reading The Van Arsdels are blown to thunder.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Gone to smash on that Lightning Railroad, and there you all are!
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Hal! it's too confounded bad!" said Jim Fellows, bursting into my room; "your apple cart's upset for good.
Chapter 31 of My Wife and I by Harriet Beecher Stowe holds 118 sentences, grouped into 24 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 31 holds 118 sentences of My Wife and I, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 31 of My Wife and I by Harriet Beecher Stowe exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 118 sentences, grouped into 24 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 24 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 24 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 31 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 Wife and I by Harriet Beecher Stowe on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7265 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #47874 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #47874, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1453 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through My Wife and I section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of My Wife and I 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 Wife and I, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
