Chapter 15 of The Auction Block is here in full — 436 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of The Auction Block is here in full — 436 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia. Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth: "You DEAR! You DARLING! Jim came home not an hour ago and told me everything.
Chapter 15 of The Auction Block is here in full — 436 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/87 · 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.
come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading “Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:”
a special loved one
From this reading “You DARLING!”
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading “Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:”
the act of clasping another person in the arms (as in greeting or affection)
From this reading “Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:”
the feeling of lively and cheerful joy
From this reading “That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.”
move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
From this reading “That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.”
filled with or marked by tears
From this reading “Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:”
(of the voice) quivering as from weakness or fear
From this reading “Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:”
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 That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
in the past
From this reading Jim came home not an hour ago and told me everything.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Jim came home not an hour ago and told me everything.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Jim came home not an hour ago and told me everything.
past form of “arrive” — reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Jim came home not an hour ago and told me everything.
a special loved one
From this reading You DARLING!
a female human offspring
From this reading Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:
dearly loved
From this reading "You DEAR!
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
the act of clasping another person in the arms (as in greeting or affection)
From this reading Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:
all things; all of a situation
From this reading Jim came home not an hour ago and told me everything.
the feeling of lively and cheerful joy
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:
where you live at a particular time
From this reading Jim came home not an hour ago and told me everything.
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading Jim came home not an hour ago and told me everything.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
originally a person of noble birth trained to arms and chivalry; today in Great Britain a person honored by the sovereign for personal merit
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Jim came home not an hour ago and told me everything.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Jim came home not an hour ago and told me everything.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:
filled with or marked by tears
From this reading Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading Jim came home not an hour ago and told me everything.
(of the voice) quivering as from weakness or fear
From this reading Embracing her daughter in tremulous, almost tearful delight, she burst forth:
in the company of; together with
From this reading That afternoon Mrs. Knight, in a great flutter of excitement, arrived with Jim at the Elegancia.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You DEAR!
Chapter 15 of The Auction Block by Rex Beach holds 436 sentences, grouped into 88 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 15 holds 436 sentences of The Auction Block, unabridged, divided into 88 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of The Auction Block by Rex Beach exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 436 sentences, grouped into 88 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 88 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 88 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 15 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 Auction Block by Rex Beach on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8096 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5143 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5143, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1620 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Auction Block section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of The Auction Block 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 Auction Block, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
