Chapter 22 of The Choice of Life is here in full — 36 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXII
Chapter 22 of The Choice of Life is here in full — 36 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"It looks like snowing," says Rose. The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work. It is a dull, drab winter's day. There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds. On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
Chapter 22 of The Choice of Life is here in full — 36 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/7 · 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.
plural of “blind” — people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
From this reading “There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds.”
draw someone's attention away from something
From this reading “The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work.”
lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise
From this reading “It is a dull, drab winter's day.”
a strong current of air
From this reading “On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.”
in a miserable manner
From this reading “On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.”
plain-woven cotton fabric
From this reading “There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds.”
-ing form of “snow” — fall as snow
From this reading “"It looks like snowing," says Rose.”
possessive form of “winter” — the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading “It is a dull, drab winter's day.”
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 It is a dull, drab winter's day.
perfect or complete or pure
From this reading The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
completely unclothed
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
plural of “blind” — people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
From this reading There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds.
plural of “branch” — a division of some larger or more complex organization
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
having or capable of producing colors
From this reading There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading It is a dull, drab winter's day.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
draw someone's attention away from something
From this reading The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work.
lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise
From this reading It is a dull, drab winter's day.
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading It is a dull, drab winter's day.
decreasing in amount or degree
From this reading The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work.
a strong current of air
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is a dull, drab winter's day.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "It looks like snowing," says Rose.
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading "It looks like snowing," says Rose.
plural of “look” — the feelings expressed on a person's face
From this reading "It looks like snowing," says Rose.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work.
in a miserable manner
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
plain-woven cotton fabric
From this reading There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work.
not any; not one
From this reading There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
(American football) a play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading "It looks like snowing," says Rose.
plural of “say” — the chance to speak
From this reading "It looks like snowing," says Rose.
tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
plural of “show” — the act of publicly exhibiting or entertaining
From this reading There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work.
the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds.
-ing form of “snow” — fall as snow
From this reading "It looks like snowing," says Rose.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading There is no colour, no light in the sky that shows through the muslin blinds.
plural of “tree” — a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading On the branches of the bare trees, a few dead leaves, which the wind has left behind, shiver miserably at some passing gust.
possessive form of “winter” — the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading It is a dull, drab winter's day.
the words that are spoken
From this reading The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading The words falling upon an absolute silence distract me from my work.
Chapter 22 of The Choice of Life by Georgette Leblanc holds 36 sentences, grouped into 8 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 22 holds 36 sentences of The Choice of Life, unabridged, divided into 8 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 22 of The Choice of Life by Georgette Leblanc exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 36 sentences, grouped into 8 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 8 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 8 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 22 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 Choice of Life by Georgette Leblanc on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2783 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #22411 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #22411, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 231 minutes of reading across 557 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Choice of Life section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of The Choice of Life 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 Choice of Life, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
