Chapter 2 of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is here in full — 445 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is here in full — 445 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened. "Billy," said Mr. Smith, "tear'em up. I ain't going to do it. It ain't right and I won't do it. They got me the license for to keep the caff and I'm going to keep the caff.
Chapter 2 of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is here in full — 445 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/89 · 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.
surprising greatly
From this reading “"And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.”
a short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading “"Billy," said Mr. Smith, "tear'em up.”
past form of “happen” — come to pass
From this reading “"And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.”
the literary culture
From this reading “"And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.”
a legal document giving official permission to do something
From this reading “They got me the license for to keep the caff and I'm going to keep the caff.”
plural of “palm” — the inner surface of the hand from the wrist to the base of the fingers
From this reading “"And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.”
Rhodesian statesman who declared independence of Zimbabwe from Great Britain (born in 1919)
From this reading “"Billy," said Mr. Smith, "tear'em up.”
the day immediately before today
From this reading “"And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I ain't going to do it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
surprising greatly
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
a short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading "Billy," said Mr. Smith, "tear'em up.
informal British term for a cafe
From this reading They got me the license for to keep the caff and I'm going to keep the caff.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading I ain't going to do it.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading They got me the license for to keep the caff and I'm going to keep the caff.
the act of departing
From this reading I ain't going to do it.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading They got me the license for to keep the caff and I'm going to keep the caff.
past form of “happen” — come to pass
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I ain't going to do it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They got me the license for to keep the caff and I'm going to keep the caff.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I ain't going to do it.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading They got me the license for to keep the caff and I'm going to keep the caff.
the literary culture
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
a legal document giving official permission to do something
From this reading They got me the license for to keep the caff and I'm going to keep the caff.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading They got me the license for to keep the caff and I'm going to keep the caff.
a form of address for a man
From this reading "Billy," said Mr. Smith, "tear'em up.
plural of “palm” — the inner surface of the hand from the wrist to the base of the fingers
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
precisely, exactly
From this reading It ain't right and I won't do it.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Billy," said Mr. Smith, "tear'em up.
Rhodesian statesman who declared independence of Zimbabwe from Great Britain (born in 1919)
From this reading "Billy," said Mr. Smith, "tear'em up.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Billy," said Mr. Smith, "tear'em up.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They got me the license for to keep the caff and I'm going to keep the caff.
a special situation
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It ain't right and I won't do it.
the day immediately before today
From this reading "And here's the letters about the palms, and here's Alphonse up to yesterday--" And then an amazing thing happened.
Chapter 2 of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock holds 445 sentences, grouped into 89 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 2 holds 445 sentences of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, unabridged, divided into 89 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 445 sentences, grouped into 89 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 89 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 89 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 2 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 Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2675 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3533 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3533, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 222 minutes of reading across 535 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of Sunshine Sketches of a Little 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 Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
