Chapter 2 of The Americans is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Americans is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
(_A militiaman comes hurrying from the mill-yard_) MILITIAMAN. Who's got a cigarette to trade for news? You couldn't guess it in a thousand years. SECOND SENTRY. We're going home.
Chapter 2 of The Americans is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
From this reading “Who's got a cigarette to trade for news?”
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading “(_A militiaman comes hurrying from the mill-yard_) MILITIAMAN.”
expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading “You couldn't guess it in a thousand years.”
moving with great haste
From this reading “(_A militiaman comes hurrying from the mill-yard_) MILITIAMAN.”
information about recent and important events
From this reading “Who's got a cigarette to trade for news?”
a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
From this reading “SECOND SENTRY.”
the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100
From this reading “You couldn't guess it in a thousand years.”
the commercial exchange (buying and selling on domestic or international markets) of goods and services
From this reading “Who's got a cigarette to trade for news?”
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.
In this reading “You couldn't guess it in a thousand years.”
In this reading “(_A militiaman comes hurrying from the mill-yard_) MILITIAMAN.”
In this reading “We're going home.”
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 militiaman comes hurrying from the mill-yard_) MILITIAMAN.
finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
From this reading Who's got a cigarette to trade for news?
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading (_A militiaman comes hurrying from the mill-yard_) MILITIAMAN.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You couldn't guess it in a thousand years.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Who's got a cigarette to trade for news?
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading (_A militiaman comes hurrying from the mill-yard_) MILITIAMAN.
the act of departing
From this reading We're going home.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Who's got a cigarette to trade for news?
expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading You couldn't guess it in a thousand years.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading We're going home.
moving with great haste
From this reading (_A militiaman comes hurrying from the mill-yard_) MILITIAMAN.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading You couldn't guess it in a thousand years.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading You couldn't guess it in a thousand years.
a member of the militia; serves only during emergencies
From this reading (_A militiaman comes hurrying from the mill-yard_) MILITIAMAN.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading (_A militiaman comes hurrying from the mill-yard_) MILITIAMAN.
information about recent and important events
From this reading Who's got a cigarette to trade for news?
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading SECOND SENTRY.
a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
From this reading SECOND SENTRY.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading (_A militiaman comes hurrying from the mill-yard_) MILITIAMAN.
the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100
From this reading You couldn't guess it in a thousand years.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Who's got a cigarette to trade for news?
the commercial exchange (buying and selling on domestic or international markets) of goods and services
From this reading Who's got a cigarette to trade for news?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We're going home.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Who's got a cigarette to trade for news?
a late time of life
From this reading You couldn't guess it in a thousand years.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You couldn't guess it in a thousand years.
Chapter 2 of The Americans by Edwin Davies Schoonmaker holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 409 sentences of The Americans, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Americans by Edwin Davies Schoonmaker exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 The Americans by Edwin Davies Schoonmaker on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3257 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41242 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41242, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 271 minutes of reading across 652 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Americans section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The Americans 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 Americans, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
