Chapter 22 of Speeches: Literary and Social is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXII
Chapter 22 of Speeches: Literary and Social is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Do you suppose the post-office clerks care to receive letters? I have my doubts. They get into a dreadful habit of indifference. A postman, I imagine, is quite callous. Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!”
Chapter 22 of Speeches: Literary and Social is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/21 · 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.
emotionally hardened
From this reading “A postman, I imagine, is quite callous.”
plural of “clerk” — an employee who performs clerical work (e.g., keeps records or accounts)
From this reading ““Do you suppose the post-office clerks care to receive letters?”
have the idea for
From this reading “Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!””
-ing form of “deliver” — deliver (a speech, oration, or idea)
From this reading “Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!””
plural of “doubt” — the state of being unsure of something
From this reading “I have my doubts.”
deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading “Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!””
a man who delivers the mail
From this reading “A postman, I imagine, is quite callous.”
denoting an action or event preceding or in preparation for something more important
From this reading “Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!””
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 They get into a dreadful habit of indifference.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!”
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!”
emotionally hardened
From this reading A postman, I imagine, is quite callous.
the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
From this reading “Do you suppose the post-office clerks care to receive letters?
plural of “clerk” — an employee who performs clerical work (e.g., keeps records or accounts)
From this reading “Do you suppose the post-office clerks care to receive letters?
have the idea for
From this reading Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!”
-ing form of “deliver” — deliver (a speech, oration, or idea)
From this reading Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!”
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “Do you suppose the post-office clerks care to receive letters?
increase twofold
From this reading Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!”
plural of “doubt” — the state of being unsure of something
From this reading I have my doubts.
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading They get into a dreadful habit of indifference.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading They get into a dreadful habit of indifference.
an established custom
From this reading They get into a dreadful habit of indifference.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I have my doubts.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!”
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I have my doubts.
form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case
From this reading A postman, I imagine, is quite callous.
unbiased impartial unconcern
From this reading They get into a dreadful habit of indifference.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading They get into a dreadful habit of indifference.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A postman, I imagine, is quite callous.
deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!”
the literary culture
From this reading “Do you suppose the post-office clerks care to receive letters?
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I have my doubts.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading They get into a dreadful habit of indifference.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Do you suppose the post-office clerks care to receive letters?
a man who delivers the mail
From this reading A postman, I imagine, is quite callous.
denoting an action or event preceding or in preparation for something more important
From this reading Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!”
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading A postman, I imagine, is quite callous.
get something; come into possession of
From this reading “Do you suppose the post-office clerks care to receive letters?
excited by sudden surprise or alarm and making a quick involuntary movement
From this reading Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!”
express a supposition
From this reading “Do you suppose the post-office clerks care to receive letters?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “Do you suppose the post-office clerks care to receive letters?
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They get into a dreadful habit of indifference.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Do you suppose the post-office clerks care to receive letters?
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading Conceive his delivering one to himself, without being startled by a preliminary double knock!”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Do you suppose the post-office clerks care to receive letters?
Chapter 22 of Speeches: Literary and Social by Charles Dickens holds 105 sentences, grouped into 21 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 22 holds 105 sentences of Speeches: Literary and Social, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 22 of Speeches: Literary and Social by Charles Dickens exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 105 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 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 22 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 Speeches: Literary and Social by Charles Dickens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2759 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #824 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #824, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 229 minutes of reading across 552 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Speeches: Literary and Social section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of Speeches: Literary and Social 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 Speeches: Literary and Social, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
