Chapter 2 of Our Little Cuban Cousin is here in full — 144 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Our Little Cuban Cousin is here in full — 144 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE PICNIC. IN a few minutes the lake was in sight. It was a very pretty sheet of water. A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake. Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.
Chapter 2 of Our Little Cuban Cousin is here in full — 144 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 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.
plural of “hammock” — a small natural hill
From this reading “Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.”
a dark region of considerable extent on the surface of the moon
From this reading “A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.”
a day devoted to an outdoor social gathering
From this reading “THE PICNIC.”
past form of “rock” — move back and forth or sideways
From this reading “A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.”
an arrangement of objects or people side by side in a line
From this reading “A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.”
any broad thin expanse or surface
From this reading “It was a very pretty sheet of water.”
changing location by moving back and forth
From this reading “Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.”
very small
From this reading “A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.”
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 “IN a few minutes the lake was in sight.”
In this reading “A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.”
In this reading “Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.”
at or within a reasonable distance for seeing
In this reading “IN a few minutes the lake was in sight.”
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 IN a few minutes the lake was in sight.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.
a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading IN a few minutes the lake was in sight.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.
plural of “hammock” — a small natural hill
From this reading Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading IN a few minutes the lake was in sight.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a very pretty sheet of water.
a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading IN a few minutes the lake was in sight.
a dark region of considerable extent on the surface of the moon
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading IN a few minutes the lake was in sight.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It was a very pretty sheet of water.
many times at short intervals
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
a day devoted to an outdoor social gathering
From this reading THE PICNIC.
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading It was a very pretty sheet of water.
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
past form of “rock” — move back and forth or sideways
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
an arrangement of objects or people side by side in a line
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
any broad thin expanse or surface
From this reading It was a very pretty sheet of water.
the land along the edge of a body of water
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading IN a few minutes the lake was in sight.
in the near future
From this reading Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.
changing location by moving back and forth
From this reading Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE PICNIC.
very small
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A tiny boat rocked to and fro close to the shore, for Ramon and Maria often came here to row about the quiet lake.
plural of “tree” — a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Ramon soon had two hammocks swinging between the trees for his father and mother.
precisely as stated
From this reading It was a very pretty sheet of water.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading IN a few minutes the lake was in sight.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading It was a very pretty sheet of water.
Chapter 2 of Our Little Cuban Cousin by Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade holds 144 sentences, grouped into 29 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 144 sentences of Our Little Cuban Cousin, unabridged, divided into 29 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Our Little Cuban Cousin by Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 144 sentences, grouped into 29 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 29 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 29 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 Our Little Cuban Cousin by Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1285 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #43636 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #43636, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 107 minutes of reading across 257 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Our Little Cuban Cousin section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of Our Little Cuban Cousin 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 Our Little Cuban Cousin, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
