Chapter 2 of The beating heart is here in full — 281 sentences across 57 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The beating heart is here in full — 281 sentences across 57 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Here, Jenkins, take this animal!” And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant. The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face. The great scientist Sir Charles Smith-Brown Bart. Dsc.
Chapter 2 of The beating heart is here in full — 281 sentences across 57 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.
someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of another
From this reading “And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.”
a member of the British order of honor; ranks below a baron but above a knight
From this reading “The great scientist Sir Charles Smith-Brown Bart.”
a long, loose outer garment
From this reading “The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.”
a workplace for the conduct of scientific research
From this reading “And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.”
a person with advanced knowledge of one or more sciences
From this reading “The great scientist Sir Charles Smith-Brown Bart.”
so extremely intense as to evoke screams
From this reading “The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.”
a loose coverall (coat or frock) reaching down to the ankles
From this reading “The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.”
(of a fluid) having been propelled about in flying drops or masses
From this reading “The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.”
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 “The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.”
move quickly to another scene or focus when filming
In this reading “And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.”
In this reading “And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading “Here, Jenkins, take this animal!”
weapons considered collectively
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of another
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
a member of the British order of honor; ranks below a baron but above a knight
From this reading The great scientist Sir Charles Smith-Brown Bart.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
The red fluid that circulates in the heart and blood vessels.
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
the entire physical structure of an organism (an animal, plant, or human being)
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
King of France from 1560 to 1574 whose reign was dominated by his mother Catherine de Medicis (1550-1574)
From this reading The great scientist Sir Charles Smith-Brown Bart.
separate with or as if with an instrument
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
a member of the genus Canis (probably descended from the common wolf) that has been domesticated by man since prehistoric times; occurs in many breeds
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dsc.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
the forelimb of a quadruped
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
a long, loose outer garment
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading The great scientist Sir Charles Smith-Brown Bart.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading “Here, Jenkins, take this animal!”
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Here, Jenkins, take this animal!”
a workplace for the conduct of scientific research
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
not any; not one
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
a person with advanced knowledge of one or more sciences
From this reading The great scientist Sir Charles Smith-Brown Bart.
so extremely intense as to evoke screams
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
term of address for a man
From this reading The great scientist Sir Charles Smith-Brown Bart.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The great scientist Sir Charles Smith-Brown Bart.
a loose coverall (coat or frock) reaching down to the ankles
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
(of a fluid) having been propelled about in flying drops or masses
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
carry out
From this reading “Here, Jenkins, take this animal!”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading “Here, Jenkins, take this animal!”
caused to fall to the ground
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading And the body of the dog from which one foreleg had been cut away was thrown into the arms of the new laboratory attendant.
a Caucasian
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
to an extreme or greatly exaggerated degree
From this reading The dog was screaming wildly and some of its blood splashed upon Jenkin’s white smock frock and some into his no less white face.
Chapter 2 of The beating heart by Victoria Cross holds 281 sentences, grouped into 57 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 281 sentences of The beating heart, unabridged, divided into 57 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The beating heart by Victoria Cross exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 281 sentences, grouped into 57 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 57 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 57 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 beating heart by Victoria Cross on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The beating heart section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The beating heart 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 beating heart, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
