Chapter 2 of The Beacon Second Reader is here in full — 459 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Beacon Second Reader is here in full — 459 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The idle girl walked home, covered with pitch. When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out: "Cock-a-doodle-doo! Our sticky lady has come home, too." The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.
Chapter 2 of The Beacon Second Reader is here in full — 459 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/91 · 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.
tilt or slant to one side
From this reading “When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out:”
overlaid or spread or topped with or enclosed within something; sometimes used as a combining form
From this reading “The idle girl walked home, covered with pitch.”
an area adjacent to farm buildings
From this reading “When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out:”
not in action or at work
From this reading “The idle girl walked home, covered with pitch.”
the property of sound that varies with variation in the frequency of vibration
From this reading “The idle girl walked home, covered with pitch.”
a protective covering that covers or forms the top of a building
From this reading “When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out:”
having the sticky properties of an adhesive
From this reading “Our sticky lady has come home, too."”
caught or fixed
From this reading “The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.”
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.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.
tilt or slant to one side
From this reading When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out:
an imitation of the crow of a cock
From this reading "Cock-a-doodle-doo!
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Our sticky lady has come home, too."
overlaid or spread or topped with or enclosed within something; sometimes used as a combining form
From this reading The idle girl walked home, covered with pitch.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out:
an area adjacent to farm buildings
From this reading When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out:
quickly or rapidly (often used as a combining form)
From this reading The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.
a young female
From this reading The idle girl walked home, covered with pitch.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Our sticky lady has come home, too."
where you live at a particular time
From this reading The idle girl walked home, covered with pitch.
not in action or at work
From this reading The idle girl walked home, covered with pitch.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out:
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading Our sticky lady has come home, too."
past form of “live” — be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out:
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading Our sticky lady has come home, too."
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out:
the property of sound that varies with variation in the frequency of vibration
From this reading The idle girl walked home, covered with pitch.
a protective covering that covers or forms the top of a building
From this reading When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out:
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out:
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.
having the sticky properties of an adhesive
From this reading Our sticky lady has come home, too."
caught or fixed
From this reading The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The idle girl walked home, covered with pitch.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The pitch stuck so fast to the girl that, as long as she lived, it never came off.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading Our sticky lady has come home, too."
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading The idle girl walked home, covered with pitch.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out:
at the time that
From this reading When she went into the farmyard the cock on the roof cried out:
in the company of; together with
From this reading The idle girl walked home, covered with pitch.
Chapter 2 of The Beacon Second Reader by James H. (James Hiram) Fassett holds 459 sentences, grouped into 92 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 459 sentences of The Beacon Second Reader, unabridged, divided into 92 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Beacon Second Reader by James H. (James Hiram) Fassett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 459 sentences, grouped into 92 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 92 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 92 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 Beacon Second Reader by James H. (James Hiram) Fassett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1366 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #15659 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #15659, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 113 minutes of reading across 274 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Beacon Second Reader section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of The Beacon Second Reader 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 Beacon Second Reader, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
