Chapter 2 of Tales of Chinatown is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Tales of Chinatown is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Durham did some rapid thinking, then: “Did you say his name was Cohen?” he asked. “That was the name he gave.” “A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.” Lala stopped dead and clutched his arm.
Chapter 2 of Tales of Chinatown is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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 native or inhabitant of the United States
From this reading ““A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.””
past form of “clutch” — take hold of; grab
From this reading “Lala stopped dead and clutched his arm.”
a city of north central North Carolina; site of Duke University
From this reading “Durham did some rapid thinking, then:”
past form of “name” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading ““A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.””
done or occurring in a brief period of time
From this reading “Durham did some rapid thinking, then:”
in the recent past
From this reading ““A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.””
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading “Lala stopped dead and clutched his arm.”
the process of using your mind to consider something carefully
From this reading “Durham did some rapid thinking, then:”
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 “A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.”
a native or inhabitant of the United States
From this reading “A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.”
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading “A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Lala stopped dead and clutched his arm.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading Lala stopped dead and clutched his arm.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “Did you say his name was Cohen?” he asked.
past form of “clutch” — take hold of; grab
From this reading Lala stopped dead and clutched his arm.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Did you say his name was Cohen?” he asked.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading “A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.”
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Durham did some rapid thinking, then:
a city of north central North Carolina; site of Duke University
From this reading Durham did some rapid thinking, then:
set up or found
From this reading “A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.”
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading “That was the name he gave.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Did you say his name was Cohen?” he asked.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading “Did you say his name was Cohen?” he asked.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Lala stopped dead and clutched his arm.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.”
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading “Did you say his name was Cohen?” he asked.
past form of “name” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading “A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.”
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading “A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.”
done or occurring in a brief period of time
From this reading Durham did some rapid thinking, then:
in the recent past
From this reading “A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.”
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading “A man named Cohen, an American, was found dead in the river quite recently.”
express in words
From this reading “Did you say his name was Cohen?” he asked.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Durham did some rapid thinking, then:
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading Lala stopped dead and clutched his arm.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “That was the name he gave.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “That was the name he gave.”
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Durham did some rapid thinking, then:
the process of using your mind to consider something carefully
From this reading Durham did some rapid thinking, then:
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Did you say his name was Cohen?” he asked.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Did you say his name was Cohen?” he asked.
Chapter 2 of Tales of Chinatown by Sax Rohmer holds 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 415 sentences of Tales of Chinatown, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Tales of Chinatown by Sax Rohmer exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 Tales of Chinatown by Sax Rohmer on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5212 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5697 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5697, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 434 minutes of reading across 1043 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Tales of Chinatown section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of Tales of Chinatown 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 Tales of Chinatown, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
