Chapter 12 of Our Wonderful Selves is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of Our Wonderful Selves is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“It won’t be long.” “Quick as you can, then.” As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work? It would give me more time to help you.” He seemed absorbed.
Chapter 12 of Our Wonderful Selves is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
giving or marked by complete attention to
From this reading “He seemed absorbed.”
artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers
From this reading “As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?”
(Old Testament) Adam's wife in Judeo-Christian mythology: the first woman and mother of the human race; God created Eve from Adam's rib and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
From this reading “As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?”
infested with grubs
From this reading “As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?”
set down according to a plan
From this reading “As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?”
a female domestic
From this reading “As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?”
accomplished rapidly and without delay
From this reading ““Quick as you can, then.””
past form of “venture” — proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
From this reading “As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?”
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.
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 As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
giving or marked by complete attention to
From this reading He seemed absorbed.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading “Quick as you can, then.”
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “It won’t be long.”
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading “Quick as you can, then.”
artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
(Old Testament) Adam's wife in Judeo-Christian mythology: the first woman and mother of the human race; God created Eve from Adam's rib and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading It would give me more time to help you.”
infested with grubs
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He seemed absorbed.
give help or assistance; be of service
From this reading It would give me more time to help you.”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “It won’t be long.”
set down according to a plan
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading “It won’t be long.”
a female domestic
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It would give me more time to help you.”
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading It would give me more time to help you.”
accomplished rapidly and without delay
From this reading “Quick as you can, then.”
express in words
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading He seemed absorbed.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading “Quick as you can, then.”
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading It would give me more time to help you.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
past form of “venture” — proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “It won’t be long.”
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading As she laid the cloth, Eve ventured to say: “Don’t you think we might have a maid to do the grubby work?
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading It would give me more time to help you.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Quick as you can, then.”
Chapter 12 of Our Wonderful Selves by Roland Pertwee holds 413 sentences, grouped into 83 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 413 sentences of Our Wonderful Selves, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Our Wonderful Selves by Roland Pertwee exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 413 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 Our Wonderful Selves by Roland Pertwee on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6272 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #69114 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #69114, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 522 minutes of reading across 1255 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Our Wonderful Selves section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of Our Wonderful Selves 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 Wonderful Selves, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
