Chapter 5 of Strictly Business is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Strictly Business is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?” “Did I hear ye open the book?” said old man McCree. “Many and weary be the months since my lad has read it to me. I dinno; but I took a great likings to them Greeks. Ye left off at a place.
Chapter 5 of Strictly Business is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/39 · 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 written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together)
From this reading ““Did I hear ye open the book?” said old man McCree.”
plural of “greek” — the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European family of languages
From this reading “I dinno; but I took a great likings to them Greeks.”
massive thick-skinned herbivorous animal living in or around rivers of tropical Africa
From this reading ““Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?””
a boy or man
From this reading ““Many and weary be the months since my lad has read it to me.”
plural of “month” — one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading ““Many and weary be the months since my lad has read it to me.”
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading ““Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?””
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading ““Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?””
exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress
From this reading ““Many and weary be the months since my lad has read it to me.”
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 I dinno; but I took a great likings to them Greeks.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading “Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “Many and weary be the months since my lad has read it to me.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Ye left off at a place.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?”
a written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together)
From this reading “Did I hear ye open the book?” said old man McCree.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading I dinno; but I took a great likings to them Greeks.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading “Did I hear ye open the book?” said old man McCree.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I dinno; but I took a great likings to them Greeks.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading I dinno; but I took a great likings to them Greeks.
plural of “greek” — the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European family of languages
From this reading I dinno; but I took a great likings to them Greeks.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Many and weary be the months since my lad has read it to me.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading “Did I hear ye open the book?” said old man McCree.
massive thick-skinned herbivorous animal living in or around rivers of tropical Africa
From this reading “Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Did I hear ye open the book?” said old man McCree.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?”
a boy or man
From this reading “Many and weary be the months since my lad has read it to me.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading Ye left off at a place.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I dinno; but I took a great likings to them Greeks.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “Did I hear ye open the book?” said old man McCree.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading “Many and weary be the months since my lad has read it to me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Did I hear ye open the book?” said old man McCree.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Many and weary be the months since my lad has read it to me.
plural of “month” — one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading “Many and weary be the months since my lad has read it to me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “Many and weary be the months since my lad has read it to me.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Ye left off at a place.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading “Did I hear ye open the book?” said old man McCree.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading “Did I hear ye open the book?” said old man McCree.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading Ye left off at a place.
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading “Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Did I hear ye open the book?” said old man McCree.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading “Many and weary be the months since my lad has read it to me.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?”
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading I dinno; but I took a great likings to them Greeks.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading “Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?”
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading I dinno; but I took a great likings to them Greeks.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading “Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?”
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?”
exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress
From this reading “Many and weary be the months since my lad has read it to me.
an old word for “you”, speaking to more than one person
From this reading “Did I hear ye open the book?” said old man McCree.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Was it the hippopotamus you wanted to be read to about then?”
Chapter 5 of Strictly Business by O. Henry holds 197 sentences, grouped into 40 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 5 holds 197 sentences of Strictly Business, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Strictly Business by O. Henry exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 197 sentences, grouped into 40 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 40 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 40 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 5 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 Strictly Business by O. Henry on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4844 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2141 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2141, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 403 minutes of reading across 969 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Strictly Business section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of Strictly Business 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 Strictly Business, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
