Chapter 20 of The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver is here in full — 60 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver is here in full — 60 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter. All those near the edge of his pond had been cut. The others were scattered about some little distance away. "I don't know," said Paddy out loud. "I don't know."
Chapter 20 of The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver is here in full — 60 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/12 · 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.
any of several trees of the genus Populus having leaves on flattened stalks so that they flutter in the lightest wind
From this reading “Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.”
come or bring to a finish or an end
From this reading “Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.”
the boundary of a surface
From this reading “All those near the edge of his pond had been cut.”
(ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of Irish descent
From this reading “Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.”
a small lake
From this reading “All those near the edge of his pond had been cut.”
occurring or distributed over widely spaced and irregular intervals in time or space
From this reading “The others were scattered about some little distance away.”
a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
From this reading “Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.”
in a thoughtful manner
From this reading “Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.”
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 The others were scattered about some little distance away.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading All those near the edge of his pond had been cut.
any of several trees of the genus Populus having leaves on flattened stalks so that they flutter in the lightest wind
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The others were scattered about some little distance away.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading All those near the edge of his pond had been cut.
come or bring to a finish or an end
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
separate with or as if with an instrument
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
the property created by the space between two objects or points
From this reading The others were scattered about some little distance away.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I don't know," said Paddy out loud.
the boundary of a surface
From this reading All those near the edge of his pond had been cut.
any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissue
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading All those near the edge of his pond had been cut.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I don't know," said Paddy out loud.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "I don't know," said Paddy out loud.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The others were scattered about some little distance away.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity
From this reading "I don't know," said Paddy out loud.
near in time or place or relationship
From this reading All those near the edge of his pond had been cut.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The others were scattered about some little distance away.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading "I don't know," said Paddy out loud.
(ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of Irish descent
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
a small lake
From this reading All those near the edge of his pond had been cut.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "I don't know," said Paddy out loud.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
occurring or distributed over widely spaced and irregular intervals in time or space
From this reading The others were scattered about some little distance away.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading The others were scattered about some little distance away.
a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
the plural of “that”: the people or things further away, or already known
From this reading All those near the edge of his pond had been cut.
in a thoughtful manner
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
plural of “tree” — a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The others were scattered about some little distance away.
the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter.
Chapter 20 of The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess holds 60 sentences, grouped into 12 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 20 holds 60 sentences of The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver, unabridged, divided into 12 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 60 sentences, grouped into 12 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 12 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 12 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 20 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 The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 994 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2493 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2493, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 82 minutes of reading across 199 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 22 chapters of The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver 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 The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
