Chapter 17 of The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat is here in full — 82 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat is here in full — 82 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves. "What's the matter?" asked Bert. "Oh, we've gone adrift in the storm," his mother said. "But don't worry. Papa says it will be all right."
Chapter 17 of The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat is here in full — 82 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/16 · 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.
aimlessly drifting
From this reading “"Oh, we've gone adrift in the storm," his mother said.”
aroused or activated
From this reading “STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.”
plural of “cry” — a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
From this reading “STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.”
your grandmother
From this reading “STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.”
plural of “noise” — sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound)
From this reading “STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.”
an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
From this reading “Papa says it will be all right."”
past form of “rouse” — become active
From this reading “STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.”
be worried, concerned, anxious, troubled, or uneasy
From this reading “"But don't worry.”
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.
aimlessly drifting
From this reading "Oh, we've gone adrift in the storm," his mother said.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Papa says it will be all right."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading "What's the matter?" asked Bert.
aroused or activated
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Papa says it will be all right."
earlier than; in front of
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading "But don't worry.
plural of “cry” — a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "But don't worry.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
made afraid
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
destroyed or killed
From this reading "Oh, we've gone adrift in the storm," his mother said.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
annoy continually or chronically
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading "Oh, we've gone adrift in the storm," his mother said.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "Oh, we've gone adrift in the storm," his mother said.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading "What's the matter?" asked Bert.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading "Oh, we've gone adrift in the storm," his mother said.
your grandmother
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
plural of “noise” — sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound)
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "Oh, we've gone adrift in the storm," his mother said.
an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
From this reading Papa says it will be all right."
precisely, exactly
From this reading Papa says it will be all right."
past form of “rouse” — become active
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Oh, we've gone adrift in the storm," his mother said.
plural of “say” — the chance to speak
From this reading Papa says it will be all right."
in the near future
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
behave violently, as if in state of a great anger
From this reading "Oh, we've gone adrift in the storm," his mother said.
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
used when the people doing the action are also its object
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading STRANGE NOISES The frightened cries of Flossie and Freddie soon awakened Nan and Bert, and it was not long before Harry and Dorothy, too, had roused themselves.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Oh, we've gone adrift in the storm," his mother said.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "What's the matter?" asked Bert.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading Papa says it will be all right."
be worried, concerned, anxious, troubled, or uneasy
From this reading "But don't worry.
Chapter 17 of The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat by Laura Lee Hope holds 82 sentences, grouped into 17 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 17 holds 82 sentences of The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat, unabridged, divided into 17 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat by Laura Lee Hope exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 82 sentences, grouped into 17 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 17 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 17 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 17 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.
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Yes. All 3077 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5948 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5948, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 256 minutes of reading across 616 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 21 chapters of The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat 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 Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
