Chapter 5 of The Big Four is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Big Four is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding. I was free. Poirot's voice gave me instructions. "Your bonds will now do for the lady, Hastings. That is right.
Chapter 5 of The Big Four is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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 relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
From this reading “Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.”
an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
From this reading “Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.”
plural of “bond” — an electrical force linking atoms
From this reading “"Your bonds will now do for the lady, Hastings.”
United States architect who formed and important architectural firm with John Merven Carrere (1860-1929)
From this reading “"Your bonds will now do for the lady, Hastings.”
the emotion of intense dislike; a feeling of dislike so strong that it demands action
From this reading “Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.”
a manual usually accompanying a technical device and explaining how to install or operate it
From this reading “Poirot's voice gave me instructions.”
a feeling of intense anger
From this reading “Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.”
the act of causing something to move up and down (or back and forth) with quick movements
From this reading “Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.”
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 “Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.”
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 Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
plural of “bond” — an electrical force linking atoms
From this reading "Your bonds will now do for the lady, Hastings.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "Your bonds will now do for the lady, Hastings.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "Your bonds will now do for the lady, Hastings.
grant freedom to; free from confinement
From this reading I was free.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading Poirot's voice gave me instructions.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
United States architect who formed and important architectural firm with John Merven Carrere (1860-1929)
From this reading "Your bonds will now do for the lady, Hastings.
the emotion of intense dislike; a feeling of dislike so strong that it demands action
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I was free.
a manual usually accompanying a technical device and explaining how to install or operate it
From this reading Poirot's voice gave me instructions.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading That is right.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading "Your bonds will now do for the lady, Hastings.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Poirot's voice gave me instructions.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading "Your bonds will now do for the lady, Hastings.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Poirot's voice gave me instructions.
a feeling of intense anger
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
precisely, exactly
From this reading That is right.
the act of causing something to move up and down (or back and forth) with quick movements
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That is right.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Your bonds will now do for the lady, Hastings.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading Poirot's voice gave me instructions.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I was free.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "Your bonds will now do for the lady, Hastings.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Slowly, with shaking hands, and rage and hate convulsing her face, she bent down and did his bidding.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Your bonds will now do for the lady, Hastings.
Chapter 5 of The Big Four by Agatha Christie holds 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 5 holds 400 sentences of The Big Four, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Big Four by Agatha Christie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 5 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 Big Four by Agatha Christie 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 Big Four section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The Big Four 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 Big Four, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
