Chapter 3 of The Bicyclers and Three Other Farces is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Bicyclers and Three Other Farces is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Perkins (sarcastically). I'll have the room repapered in sheet- glass. Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse. Yardsley. Napoleonic idea.
Chapter 3 of The Bicyclers and Three Other Farces is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
get temporarily
From this reading “Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.”
plural of “cover” — a covering that serves to conceal or shelter something
From this reading “Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.”
a building with glass walls and roof; for the cultivation and exhibition of plants under controlled conditions
From this reading “Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.”
be suspended or hanging
From this reading “Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.”
a decorative strip used for ornamentation or finishing
From this reading “Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.”
of or relating to or like Napoleon Bonaparte
From this reading “Napoleonic idea.”
in a sarcastic manner
From this reading “Perkins (sarcastically).”
any broad thin expanse or surface
From this reading “I'll have the room repapered in sheet- glass.”
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 Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
get temporarily
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
plural of “cover” — a covering that serves to conceal or shelter something
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
From this reading I'll have the room repapered in sheet- glass.
a building with glass walls and roof; for the cultivation and exhibition of plants under controlled conditions
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
be suspended or hanging
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I'll have the room repapered in sheet- glass.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I'll have the room repapered in sheet- glass.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Napoleonic idea.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading I'll have the room repapered in sheet- glass.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
a decorative strip used for ornamentation or finishing
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
of or relating to or like Napoleon Bonaparte
From this reading Napoleonic idea.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Perkins (sarcastically).
a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I'll have the room repapered in sheet- glass.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading I'll have the room repapered in sheet- glass.
in a sarcastic manner
From this reading Perkins (sarcastically).
any broad thin expanse or surface
From this reading I'll have the room repapered in sheet- glass.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I'll have the room repapered in sheet- glass.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Or we might borrow a few hot-bed covers and hang them from the picture moulding, so that the place would look like a real greenhouse.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Yardsley.
Chapter 3 of The Bicyclers and Three Other Farces by John Kendrick Bangs holds 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 3 holds 426 sentences of The Bicyclers and Three Other Farces, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Bicyclers and Three Other Farces by John Kendrick Bangs exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 3 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 Bicyclers and Three Other Farces by John Kendrick Bangs on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2946 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #11759 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #11759, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 245 minutes of reading across 590 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Bicyclers and Three Other Farces section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of The Bicyclers and Three Other Farces 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 Bicyclers and Three Other Farces, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
