Chapter 12 of The Believing Years is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Believing Years is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SUSY We passed the afternoon gloomily. There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace. Except for him, we appeared to be almost the only persons who had not gone to the circus. Horace, we presumed, would have to spend the whole afternoon in that bath-tub. We could imagine his misery.
Chapter 12 of The Believing Years is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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 travelling company of entertainers; including trained animals
From this reading “There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.”
with gloom
From this reading “SUSY We passed the afternoon gloomily.”
Roman lyric poet said to have influenced English poetry (65-8 BC)
From this reading “There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.”
having or exercising influence or power
From this reading “There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.”
a state of ill-being due to affliction or misfortune
From this reading “We could imagine his misery.”
past form of “presume” — take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof
From this reading “Horace, we presumed, would have to spend the whole afternoon in that bath-tub.”
tending to return to an earlier state
From this reading “There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.”
use up a period of time in a specific way
From this reading “Horace, we presumed, would have to spend the whole afternoon in that bath-tub.”
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 “Horace, we presumed, would have to spend the whole afternoon in that bath-tub.”
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.
the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading SUSY We passed the afternoon gloomily.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading Except for him, we appeared to be almost the only persons who had not gone to the circus.
past form of “appear” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading Except for him, we appeared to be almost the only persons who had not gone to the circus.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Horace, we presumed, would have to spend the whole afternoon in that bath-tub.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
a travelling company of entertainers; including trained animals
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading We could imagine his misery.
apart from; not including
From this reading Except for him, we appeared to be almost the only persons who had not gone to the circus.
a piece of land cleared of trees and usually enclosed
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Except for him, we appeared to be almost the only persons who had not gone to the circus.
with gloom
From this reading SUSY We passed the afternoon gloomily.
destroyed or killed
From this reading Except for him, we appeared to be almost the only persons who had not gone to the circus.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Except for him, we appeared to be almost the only persons who had not gone to the circus.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Horace, we presumed, would have to spend the whole afternoon in that bath-tub.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Except for him, we appeared to be almost the only persons who had not gone to the circus.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading We could imagine his misery.
Roman lyric poet said to have influenced English poetry (65-8 BC)
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case
From this reading We could imagine his misery.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
having or exercising influence or power
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
a state of ill-being due to affliction or misfortune
From this reading We could imagine his misery.
not any; not one
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Except for him, we appeared to be almost the only persons who had not gone to the circus.
on one occasion
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
and nothing more
From this reading Except for him, we appeared to be almost the only persons who had not gone to the circus.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading SUSY We passed the afternoon gloomily.
plural of “person” — a human being
From this reading Except for him, we appeared to be almost the only persons who had not gone to the circus.
past form of “presume” — take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof
From this reading Horace, we presumed, would have to spend the whole afternoon in that bath-tub.
tending to return to an earlier state
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
use up a period of time in a specific way
From this reading Horace, we presumed, would have to spend the whole afternoon in that bath-tub.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SUSY We passed the afternoon gloomily.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Horace, we presumed, would have to spend the whole afternoon in that bath-tub.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading SUSY We passed the afternoon gloomily.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
the act of using
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading SUSY We passed the afternoon gloomily.
which person or people
From this reading Except for him, we appeared to be almost the only persons who had not gone to the circus.
including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
From this reading Horace, we presumed, would have to spend the whole afternoon in that bath-tub.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading There seemed to be no use in returning to the circus field without the once influential Horace.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Horace, we presumed, would have to spend the whole afternoon in that bath-tub.
Chapter 12 of The Believing Years by Edmund Lester Pearson holds 118 sentences, grouped into 24 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 12 holds 118 sentences of The Believing Years, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Believing Years by Edmund Lester Pearson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 118 sentences, grouped into 24 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 24 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 24 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 12 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 Believing Years by Edmund Lester Pearson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2696 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #46712 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #46712, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 224 minutes of reading across 540 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Believing Years section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Believing Years 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 Believing Years, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
