Chapter 15 of Penny Nichols and the Black Imp is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of Penny Nichols and the Black Imp is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath. It had been foolish to run away. She realized that now. But she had acted impulsively, without thinking. She thought hopefully that Hanley Cron might not have recognized her.
Chapter 15 of Penny Nichols and the Black Imp is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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 “act” — perform an action, or work out or perform (an action)
From this reading “But she had acted impulsively, without thinking.”
with hope; in a hopeful manner
From this reading “She thought hopefully that Hanley Cron might not have recognized her.”
in an impulsive or impetuous way; without taking cautions
From this reading “But she had acted impulsively, without thinking.”
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading “A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.”
not clear to the understanding
From this reading “A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.”
successfully completed or brought to an end
From this reading “She realized that now.”
generally approved or compelling recognition
From this reading “She thought hopefully that Hanley Cron might not have recognized her.”
(mathematics) a miscalculation that results from rounding off numbers to a convenient number of decimals
From this reading “A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.”
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.
flee; take to one's heels; cut and run
In this reading “It had been foolish to run away.”
In this reading “A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.”
In this reading “But she had acted impulsively, without thinking.”
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 A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
past form of “act” — perform an action, or work out or perform (an action)
From this reading But she had acted impulsively, without thinking.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading It had been foolish to run away.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading It had been foolish to run away.
the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But she had acted impulsively, without thinking.
discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
a place off to the side of an area
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She thought hopefully that Hanley Cron might not have recognized her.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
devoid of good sense or judgment
From this reading It had been foolish to run away.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It had been foolish to run away.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She thought hopefully that Hanley Cron might not have recognized her.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading She thought hopefully that Hanley Cron might not have recognized her.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
with hope; in a hopeful manner
From this reading She thought hopefully that Hanley Cron might not have recognized her.
in an impulsive or impetuous way; without taking cautions
From this reading But she had acted impulsively, without thinking.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It had been foolish to run away.
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading She thought hopefully that Hanley Cron might not have recognized her.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading She thought hopefully that Hanley Cron might not have recognized her.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading She realized that now.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
past form of “pause” — interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
not clear to the understanding
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
successfully completed or brought to an end
From this reading She realized that now.
generally approved or compelling recognition
From this reading She thought hopefully that Hanley Cron might not have recognized her.
(mathematics) a miscalculation that results from rounding off numbers to a convenient number of decimals
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading It had been foolish to run away.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She realized that now.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading She realized that now.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
the process of using your mind to consider something carefully
From this reading But she had acted impulsively, without thinking.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading She thought hopefully that Hanley Cron might not have recognized her.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A Puzzling Letter Rounding the corner at the end of the street, Penny paused to catch her breath.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading But she had acted impulsively, without thinking.
Chapter 15 of Penny Nichols and the Black Imp by Joan Clark holds 185 sentences, grouped into 37 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 185 sentences of Penny Nichols and the Black Imp, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of Penny Nichols and the Black Imp by Joan Clark exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 185 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 Penny Nichols and the Black Imp by Joan Clark on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3573 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33382 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33382, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 297 minutes of reading across 715 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Penny Nichols and the Black Imp section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of Penny Nichols and the Black Imp 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 Penny Nichols and the Black Imp, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
