Chapter 20 of Pimpernel and Rosemary is here in full — 129 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of Pimpernel and Rosemary is here in full — 129 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
And it had been a wonderful day. The weather was perfect. Every one was in the highest possible spirits. The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable. All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
Chapter 20 of Pimpernel and Rosemary is here in full — 129 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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.
a professional cook
From this reading “The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.”
plural of “drink” — a single serving of a beverage
From this reading “All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.”
past form of “ice” — decorate with frosting
From this reading “All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.”
plural of “ice” — water frozen in the solid state
From this reading “All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.”
defying imitation; matchless
From this reading “The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.”
flesh of a lobster
From this reading “The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.”
past form of “surpass” — distinguish oneself
From this reading “The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.”
a game played with rackets by two or four players who hit a ball back and forth over a net that divides the court
From this reading “All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.”
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.
ball about the size of a fist used in playing tennis
In this reading “All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.”
In this reading “All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.”
In this reading “All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.”
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 And it had been a wonderful day.
the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
(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 All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And it had been a wonderful day.
plural of “ball” — round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games
From this reading All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading And it had been a wonderful day.
the largest city in North Carolina; located in south central North Carolina
From this reading The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.
a professional cook
From this reading The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.
a beverage consisting of an infusion of ground coffee beans
From this reading All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading And it had been a wonderful day.
plural of “drink” — a single serving of a beverage
From this reading All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading Every one was in the highest possible spirits.
moving swiftly
From this reading All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
the act of departing
From this reading All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading And it had been a wonderful day.
superlative of “high” — greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading Every one was in the highest possible spirits.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.
past form of “ice” — decorate with frosting
From this reading All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
plural of “ice” — water frozen in the solid state
From this reading All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Every one was in the highest possible spirits.
defying imitation; matchless
From this reading The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading And it had been a wonderful day.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.
a field of cultivated and mowed grass
From this reading All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
flesh of a lobster
From this reading The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Every one was in the highest possible spirits.
being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish
From this reading The weather was perfect.
capable of happening or existing
From this reading Every one was in the highest possible spirits.
strongly marked; easily noticeable
From this reading The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.
an alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented
From this reading Every one was in the highest possible spirits.
past form of “surpass” — distinguish oneself
From this reading The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.
a game played with rackets by two or four players who hit a ball back and forth over a net that divides the court
From this reading All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The weather was perfect.
in or at that place or location
From this reading All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The weather was perfect.
the atmospheric conditions that comprise the state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation
From this reading The weather was perfect.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading All afternoon tennis balls were flying, and there was coffee, ices and iced drinks going all day on the lawn.
extraordinarily good or great; used especially as intensifiers
From this reading And it had been a wonderful day.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The chef surpassed himself; every one pronounced the lobster à l'Américaine perfect and the Charlotte Russe Créole quite inimitable.
Chapter 20 of Pimpernel and Rosemary by Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy holds 129 sentences, grouped into 26 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 20 holds 129 sentences of Pimpernel and Rosemary, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of Pimpernel and Rosemary by Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 129 sentences, grouped into 26 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 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 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 20 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Pimpernel and Rosemary section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Pimpernel and Rosemary 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 Pimpernel and Rosemary, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
