Chapter 8 of The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith is here in full — 280 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith is here in full — 280 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study. Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage. He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out: “I said you must be told. I take all responsibility for your being told.
Chapter 8 of The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith is here in full — 280 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/56 · 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 hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading “Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.”
practices that are handed down from the past by tradition
From this reading “Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.”
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading “Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.”
the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
From this reading “I take all responsibility for your being told.”
move or cause to move back and forth
From this reading “He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:”
inflected form of “show” — give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading “Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.”
a detailed critical inspection
From this reading “Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.”
possessive form of “williams” — United States country singer and songwriter (1923-1953)
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 “Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.”
take someone's hands and shake them as a gesture of greeting or congratulation
In this reading “He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:”
In this reading “Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.”
give sudden release to an expression
In this reading “He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:”
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.
(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 I take all responsibility for your being told.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
past form of “arrive” — reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “I said you must be told.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading I take all responsibility for your being told.
a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.
come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
about to be mentioned or specified
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:
only a very short time before
From this reading He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:
a unit of inductance in which an induced electromotive force of one volt is produced when the current is varied at the rate of one ampere per second
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:
practices that are handed down from the past by tradition
From this reading Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I said you must be told.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading “I said you must be told.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.
the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
From this reading I take all responsibility for your being told.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “I said you must be told.
100 senti equal 1 kroon in Estonia
From this reading Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.
move or cause to move back and forth
From this reading He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:
inflected form of “show” — give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
term of address for a man
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
successive (without a break)
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
a detailed critical inspection
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
carry out
From this reading I take all responsibility for your being told.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He hardly gave her time to shake hands before he burst out:
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading “I said you must be told.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Half an hour later Sir William rang the bell and sent for Lady Heritage.
possessive form of “williams” — United States country singer and songwriter (1923-1953)
From this reading Henry arrived on the following day and was shown straight into Sir William’s study.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “I said you must be told.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I take all responsibility for your being told.
Chapter 8 of The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith by Patricia Wentworth holds 280 sentences, grouped into 56 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 8 holds 280 sentences of The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith, unabridged, divided into 56 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith by Patricia Wentworth exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 280 sentences, grouped into 56 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 56 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 56 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 8 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 Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith by Patricia Wentworth on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6125 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #62963 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #62963, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 510 minutes of reading across 1225 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith 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 Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
