Chapter 7 of The Black Opal is here in full — 72 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of The Black Opal is here in full — 72 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Give y' three," Watty said. "Take 'em." George Woods did not turn. He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before. It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
Chapter 7 of The Black Opal is here in full — 72 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/14 · 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.
with brightness
From this reading “He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.”
a low-lying region in central France
From this reading “It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.”
a thin crisp wafer made of flour and water with or without leavening and shortening; unsweetened or semisweet
From this reading “He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.”
past form of “crawl” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading “It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.”
having lost your job
From this reading “He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.”
take the midday meal
From this reading “It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.”
joint consisting of a line formed by joining two pieces
From this reading “He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.”
the front part of the human leg between the knee and the ankle
From this reading “He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.”
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 “He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.”
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 He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
the act of breaking something
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
with brightness
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
taking care or paying attention
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
a low-lying region in central France
From this reading It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
a thin crisp wafer made of flour and water with or without leavening and shortening; unsweetened or semisweet
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
past form of “crawl” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading George Woods did not turn.
operate or control a vehicle
From this reading It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
a quad with a square body
From this reading "Take 'em."
having lost your job
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading George Woods did not turn.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading "Give y' three," Watty said.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
take the midday meal
From this reading It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
the one or ones belonging to the person speaking
From this reading It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading George Woods did not turn.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Give y' three," Watty said.
joint consisting of a line formed by joining two pieces
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
the front part of the human leg between the knee and the ankle
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
carry out
From this reading "Take 'em."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading "Give y' three," Watty said.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It was about lunch time, and Watty had crawled from his drive to the centre of the mine.
change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense
From this reading George Woods did not turn.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Give y' three," Watty said.
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading George Woods did not turn.
actively engaged in paid work
From this reading He was carefully working round a brilliantly fired seam through black potch in the shin cracker he had been breaking through two or three days before.
a silvery metallic element that is common in rare-earth minerals; used in magnesium and aluminum alloys
From this reading "Give y' three," Watty said.
Chapter 7 of The Black Opal by Katharine Susannah Prichard holds 72 sentences, grouped into 15 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 7 holds 72 sentences of The Black Opal, unabridged, divided into 15 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of The Black Opal by Katharine Susannah Prichard exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 72 sentences, grouped into 15 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 15 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 15 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 7 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 Opal by Katharine Susannah Prichard on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6229 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36710 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36710, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 519 minutes of reading across 1246 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Black Opal section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of The Black Opal 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 Opal, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
