Chapter 4 of Private Spud Tamson is here in full — 69 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Private Spud Tamson is here in full — 69 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DISCUSSING THE OFFICERS. "_Ginger_!" "Ay, Spud." "Whut’s a colonel?" "Oh, he’s the heid bummer o’ the Mileeshy.
Chapter 4 of Private Spud Tamson is here in full — 69 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/13 · 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.
an experience that is irritating or frustrating or disappointing
From this reading “"Oh, he’s the heid bummer o’ the Mileeshy.”
a commissioned military officer in the United States Army or Air Force or Marines who ranks above a lieutenant colonel and below a brigadier general
From this reading “"Whut’s a colonel?"”
-ing form of “discuss” — to consider or examine in speech or writing
From this reading “DISCUSSING THE OFFICERS.”
perennial plants having thick branching aromatic rhizomes and leafy reedlike stems
plural of “officer” — any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command
From this reading “DISCUSSING THE OFFICERS.”
an edible tuber native to South America; a staple food of Ireland
From this reading “"Ay, Spud."”
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 "Whut’s a colonel?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Ay, Spud."
an experience that is irritating or frustrating or disappointing
From this reading "Oh, he’s the heid bummer o’ the Mileeshy.
a commissioned military officer in the United States Army or Air Force or Marines who ranks above a lieutenant colonel and below a brigadier general
From this reading "Whut’s a colonel?"
-ing form of “discuss” — to consider or examine in speech or writing
From this reading DISCUSSING THE OFFICERS.
perennial plants having thick branching aromatic rhizomes and leafy reedlike stems
From this reading "_Ginger_!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Oh, he’s the heid bummer o’ the Mileeshy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Oh, he’s the heid bummer o’ the Mileeshy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Oh, he’s the heid bummer o’ the Mileeshy.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading "Oh, he’s the heid bummer o’ the Mileeshy.
plural of “officer” — any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command
From this reading DISCUSSING THE OFFICERS.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "Oh, he’s the heid bummer o’ the Mileeshy.
an edible tuber native to South America; a staple food of Ireland
From this reading "Ay, Spud."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading DISCUSSING THE OFFICERS.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Whut’s a colonel?"
Chapter 4 of Private Spud Tamson by R. W. Campbell holds 69 sentences, grouped into 14 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 4 holds 69 sentences of Private Spud Tamson, unabridged, divided into 14 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Private Spud Tamson by R. W. Campbell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 69 sentences, grouped into 14 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 14 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 14 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 4 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 Private Spud Tamson by R. W. Campbell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4178 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #47315 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #47315, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 348 minutes of reading across 836 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Private Spud Tamson section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of Private Spud Tamson 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 Private Spud Tamson, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
