Chapter 2 of Tar and feathers is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Tar and feathers is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“My, oh my!” Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap. “We’ll have to cut out the nicotine. No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!” “Not one cigarette, nursey?” pleaded the practical joker.
Chapter 2 of Tar and feathers is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
plural of “cigarette” — finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
From this reading “No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!””
plural of “curl” — a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles (as formed by leaves or flower petals)
From this reading “Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.”
a person who enjoys telling or playing jokes
From this reading ““Not one cigarette, nursey?” pleaded the practical joker.”
plural of “meadow” — a field where grass or alfalfa are grown to be made into hay
From this reading “Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.”
an alkaloid poison that occurs in tobacco; used in medicine and as an insecticide
From this reading ““We’ll have to cut out the nicotine.”
conforming with or constituting a norm or standard or level or type or social norm; not abnormal
From this reading “No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!””
past form of “straggle” — wander from a direct or straight course
From this reading “Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.”
the degree of hotness or coldness of a body or environment (corresponding to its molecular activity)
From this reading “No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!””
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
belong to an earlier time
In this reading “No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!””
delete or remove
In this reading ““We’ll have to cut out the nicotine.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
Directly under; in or to a lower position than.
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
an orange of low brightness and saturation
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
a tight-fitting headdress
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
From this reading “Not one cigarette, nursey?” pleaded the practical joker.
plural of “cigarette” — finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
plural of “curl” — a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles (as formed by leaves or flower petals)
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
separate with or as if with an instrument
From this reading “We’ll have to cut out the nicotine.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
plural of “go” — a time period for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else)
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “We’ll have to cut out the nicotine.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
a person who enjoys telling or playing jokes
From this reading “Not one cigarette, nursey?” pleaded the practical joker.
plural of “meadow” — a field where grass or alfalfa are grown to be made into hay
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “My, oh my!”
an alkaloid poison that occurs in tobacco; used in medicine and as an insecticide
From this reading “We’ll have to cut out the nicotine.
not any; not one
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
conforming with or constituting a norm or standard or level or type or social norm; not abnormal
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading “Not one cigarette, nursey?” pleaded the practical joker.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Not one cigarette, nursey?” pleaded the practical joker.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading “My, oh my!”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading “Not one cigarette, nursey?” pleaded the practical joker.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
past form of “plead” — appeal or request earnestly
From this reading “Not one cigarette, nursey?” pleaded the practical joker.
concerned with actual use or practice
From this reading “Not one cigarette, nursey?” pleaded the practical joker.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
in the near future
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
past form of “straggle” — wander from a direct or straight course
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
the degree of hotness or coldness of a body or environment (corresponding to its molecular activity)
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Meadows shook her head, so that the brown curls straggled out from beneath her cap.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “We’ll have to cut out the nicotine.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “We’ll have to cut out the nicotine.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading No more cigarettes from now on, and you’ll see how soon your temperature goes back to normal!”
Chapter 2 of Tar and feathers by Victor Rubin holds 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 2 holds 420 sentences of Tar and feathers, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Tar and feathers by Victor Rubin exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 Tar and feathers by Victor Rubin on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6678 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #73731 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #73731, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 556 minutes of reading across 1336 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Tar and feathers section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of Tar and feathers 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 Tar and feathers, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
