Chapter 15 of O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919 is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919 is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Why--why, certainly!" Mrs. Shirley faltered. She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within. "Yes, he'd have liked that," he told himself. "Lots of expression and those beautiful haunted shadows about the eyes."
Chapter 15 of O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919 is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
past form of “falter” — be unsure or weak
From this reading “Mrs. Shirley faltered.”
having or showing excessive or compulsive concern with something
From this reading “"Lots of expression and those beautiful haunted shadows about the eyes."”
found pleasant or attractive; often used as a combining form
From this reading “"Yes, he'd have liked that," he told himself.”
a large number or amount
From this reading “"Lots of expression and those beautiful haunted shadows about the eyes."”
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading “She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.”
plural of “shadow” — shade within clear boundaries
From this reading “"Lots of expression and those beautiful haunted shadows about the eyes."”
not covered with clothing
From this reading “She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.”
someone who sees an event and reports what happened
From this reading “She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading "Lots of expression and those beautiful haunted shadows about the eyes."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading "Lots of expression and those beautiful haunted shadows about the eyes."
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading "Why--why, certainly!"
the feelings expressed on a person's face
From this reading "Lots of expression and those beautiful haunted shadows about the eyes."
opinion or judgment
From this reading "Lots of expression and those beautiful haunted shadows about the eyes."
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.
past form of “falter” — be unsure or weak
From this reading Mrs. Shirley faltered.
having or showing excessive or compulsive concern with something
From this reading "Lots of expression and those beautiful haunted shadows about the eyes."
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "Yes, he'd have liked that," he told himself.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Yes, he'd have liked that," he told himself.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Yes, he'd have liked that," he told himself.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading "Yes, he'd have liked that," he told himself.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.
found pleasant or attractive; often used as a combining form
From this reading "Yes, he'd have liked that," he told himself.
a large number or amount
From this reading "Lots of expression and those beautiful haunted shadows about the eyes."
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading Mrs. Shirley faltered.
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "Lots of expression and those beautiful haunted shadows about the eyes."
plural of “shadow” — shade within clear boundaries
From this reading "Lots of expression and those beautiful haunted shadows about the eyes."
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mrs. Shirley faltered.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "Yes, he'd have liked that," he told himself.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.
the plural of “that”: the people or things further away, or already known
From this reading "Lots of expression and those beautiful haunted shadows about the eyes."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading "Yes, he'd have liked that," he told himself.
not covered with clothing
From this reading She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading "Why--why, certainly!"
inside; before a period of time has passed
From this reading She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.
someone who sees an event and reports what happened
From this reading She uncovered her face and Hugh nodded to the witness within.
an affirmative
From this reading "Yes, he'd have liked that," he told himself.
Chapter 15 of O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919 by Society of Arts and Sciences (U.S.) [Editor] holds 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 15 holds 400 sentences of O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919 by Society of Arts and Sciences (U.S.) [Editor] exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 15 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 O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919 by Society of Arts and Sciences (U.S.) [Editor] on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7334 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12094 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12094, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1467 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919 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 O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
