Chapter 5 of The Black Diamond is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Black Diamond is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
‘Come along, Abner,’ Alice whispered, tugging at his arm. The proprietor rang his bell again. ‘Now, for the last time,’ he said. ‘Just commencing! If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
Chapter 5 of The Black Diamond is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
fighting with the fists
From this reading “If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.”
-ing form of “commence” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading “‘Just commencing!”
the act of exhibiting
From this reading “If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.”
(law) someone who owns (is legal possessor of) a business
From this reading “The proprietor rang his bell again.”
of or relating to the practice of science
From this reading “If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.”
material for starting a fire
From this reading “If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.”
inflected form of “tug” — pull hard
From this reading “‘Come along, Abner,’ Alice whispered, tugging at his arm.”
used when the people spoken to are both doing and receiving the action
From this reading “If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.”
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 “‘Come along, Abner,’ Alice whispered, tugging at his arm.”
come into being or existence, or appear on the scene
In this reading “‘Come along, Abner,’ Alice whispered, tugging at his arm.”
put clothing on one's body
In this reading “If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.”
In this reading “‘Now, for the last time,’ he said.”
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 If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘Come along, Abner,’ Alice whispered, tugging at his arm.
anew
From this reading The proprietor rang his bell again.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘Come along, Abner,’ Alice whispered, tugging at his arm.
following the length of something from one end toward the other
From this reading ‘Come along, Abner,’ Alice whispered, tugging at his arm.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading ‘Come along, Abner,’ Alice whispered, tugging at his arm.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading ‘Come along, Abner,’ Alice whispered, tugging at his arm.
a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading The proprietor rang his bell again.
fighting with the fists
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading ‘Come along, Abner,’ Alice whispered, tugging at his arm.
-ing form of “commence” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading ‘Just commencing!
the act of exhibiting
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading ‘Now, for the last time,’ he said.
plural of “glove” — the handwear used by fielders in playing baseball
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading ‘Now, for the last time,’ he said.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading ‘Come along, Abner,’ Alice whispered, tugging at his arm.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
and nothing more
From this reading ‘Just commencing!
immediately past
From this reading ‘Now, for the last time,’ he said.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading ‘Now, for the last time,’ he said.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
(law) someone who owns (is legal possessor of) a business
From this reading The proprietor rang his bell again.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading The proprietor rang his bell again.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading ‘Now, for the last time,’ he said.
of or relating to the practice of science
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
material for starting a fire
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The proprietor rang his bell again.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading ‘Now, for the last time,’ he said.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
inflected form of “tug” — pull hard
From this reading ‘Come along, Abner,’ Alice whispered, tugging at his arm.
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading ‘Come along, Abner,’ Alice whispered, tugging at his arm.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
used when the people spoken to are both doing and receiving the action
From this reading If you haven’t the spunk to put on the gloves yourselves, come and see a pretty exhibition of scientific boxing.
Chapter 5 of The Black Diamond by Francis Brett Young holds 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 414 sentences of The Black Diamond, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Black Diamond by Francis Brett Young exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 Black Diamond by Francis Brett Young on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10566 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #48813 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #48813, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2114 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Black Diamond section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Black Diamond 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 Black Diamond, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
