Chapter 2 of The "B. O. W. C." is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The "B. O. W. C." is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“O, yes, it can.” “You haven’t enough to eat here--have you?” asked others. “Plenty.” “Nonsense! It will all be gone before two days.”
Chapter 2 of The "B. O. W. C." is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/77 · 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.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading ““You haven’t enough to eat here--have you?” asked others.”
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading “It will all be gone before two days.””
take in solid food
From this reading ““You haven’t enough to eat here--have you?” asked others.”
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading ““You haven’t enough to eat here--have you?” asked others.”
destroyed or killed
From this reading “It will all be gone before two days.””
a message that seems to convey no meaning
From this reading ““Nonsense!”
a full supply
From this reading ““Plenty.””
an affirmative
From this reading ““O, yes, it can.””
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 “It will all be gone before two days.””
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 It will all be gone before two days.”
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “You haven’t enough to eat here--have you?” asked others.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It will all be gone before two days.”
earlier than; in front of
From this reading It will all be gone before two days.”
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading “O, yes, it can.”
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading It will all be gone before two days.”
take in solid food
From this reading “You haven’t enough to eat here--have you?” asked others.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading “You haven’t enough to eat here--have you?” asked others.
destroyed or killed
From this reading It will all be gone before two days.”
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “You haven’t enough to eat here--have you?” asked others.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You haven’t enough to eat here--have you?” asked others.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading “You haven’t enough to eat here--have you?” asked others.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “O, yes, it can.”
a message that seems to convey no meaning
From this reading “Nonsense!
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading “O, yes, it can.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You haven’t enough to eat here--have you?” asked others.
a full supply
From this reading “Plenty.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “You haven’t enough to eat here--have you?” asked others.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading It will all be gone before two days.”
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading It will all be gone before two days.”
an affirmative
From this reading “O, yes, it can.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You haven’t enough to eat here--have you?” asked others.
Chapter 2 of The "B. O. W. C." by James De Mille holds 388 sentences, grouped into 78 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 388 sentences of The "B. O. W. C.", unabridged, divided into 78 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The "B. O. W. C." by James De Mille exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 388 sentences, grouped into 78 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 78 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 78 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 "B. O. W. C." by James De Mille on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5287 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56231 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56231, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 440 minutes of reading across 1058 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The "B. O. W. C." section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of The "B. O. W. C." 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 "B. O. W. C.", each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
