Chapter 12 of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Don't hurt me, please!" Davey said. Billy was standing before him, suddenly. "That's what Marci said when he took her, 'Don't hurt me, please,'" he said. "She said it over and over again.
Chapter 12 of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
anew
From this reading “"She said it over and over again.”
a short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading “Billy was standing before him, suddenly.”
be the source of pain
From this reading “"Don't hurt me, please!"”
above and across; more than
From this reading “"She said it over and over again.”
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading “"Don't hurt me, please!"”
having a supporting base
From this reading “Billy was standing before him, suddenly.”
happening unexpectedly
From this reading “Billy was standing before him, suddenly.”
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading “"That's what Marci said when he took her, 'Don't hurt me, please,'" he said.”
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.
anew
From this reading "She said it over and over again.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "She said it over and over again.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Billy was standing before him, suddenly.
a short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading Billy was standing before him, suddenly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Davey said.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Don't hurt me, please!"
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "That's what Marci said when he took her, 'Don't hurt me, please,'" he said.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "That's what Marci said when he took her, 'Don't hurt me, please,'" he said.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Billy was standing before him, suddenly.
be the source of pain
From this reading "Don't hurt me, please!"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "She said it over and over again.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "That's what Marci said when he took her, 'Don't hurt me, please,'" he said.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "Don't hurt me, please!"
above and across; more than
From this reading "She said it over and over again.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading "Don't hurt me, please!"
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Davey said.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "She said it over and over again.
having a supporting base
From this reading Billy was standing before him, suddenly.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading Billy was standing before him, suddenly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "That's what Marci said when he took her, 'Don't hurt me, please,'" he said.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading "That's what Marci said when he took her, 'Don't hurt me, please,'" he said.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Billy was standing before him, suddenly.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "That's what Marci said when he took her, 'Don't hurt me, please,'" he said.
at the time that
From this reading "That's what Marci said when he took her, 'Don't hurt me, please,'" he said.
Chapter 12 of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 409 sentences of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8538 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #18224 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #18224, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1708 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 21 chapters of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town 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 Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
