Chapter 2 of The Circle: A Comedy in Three Acts is here in full — 441 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Circle: A Comedy in Three Acts is here in full — 441 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home? ELIZABETH. The Federated Malay States. He joined up at the beginning of the war. He's just going back there.
Chapter 2 of The Circle: A Comedy in Three Acts is here in full — 441 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/88 · 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.
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading “He joined up at the beginning of the war.”
daughter of George VI who became the Queen of England and Northern Ireland in 1952 on the death of her father (1926-)
From this reading “ELIZABETH.”
united under a central government
From this reading “The Federated Malay States.”
where you live at a particular time
From this reading “C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?”
of or relating to two people who are married to each other
From this reading “He joined up at the beginning of the war.”
a member of a people inhabiting the northern Malay Peninsula and Malaysia and parts of the western Malay Archipelago
From this reading “The Federated Malay States.”
plural of “state” — the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation
From this reading “The Federated Malay States.”
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading “He joined up at the beginning of the war.”
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.
a reception held in your own home
In this reading “C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?”
In this reading “He joined up at the beginning of the war.”
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 C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading He's just going back there.
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading He joined up at the beginning of the war.
a degree on the centigrade scale of temperature
From this reading C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?
daughter of George VI who became the Queen of England and Northern Ireland in 1952 on the death of her father (1926-)
From this reading ELIZABETH.
a degree on the Fahrenheit scale of temperature
From this reading C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?
united under a central government
From this reading The Federated Malay States.
the act of departing
From this reading He's just going back there.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He joined up at the beginning of the war.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He's just going back there.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?
of or relating to two people who are married to each other
From this reading He joined up at the beginning of the war.
and nothing more
From this reading He's just going back there.
the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards)
From this reading C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?
a member of a people inhabiting the northern Malay Peninsula and Malaysia and parts of the western Malay Archipelago
From this reading The Federated Malay States.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He joined up at the beginning of the war.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?
plural of “state” — the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation
From this reading The Federated Malay States.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?
in or at that place or location
From this reading He's just going back there.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading He joined up at the beginning of the war.
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading He joined up at the beginning of the war.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?
at the time that
From this reading C.-C. And what are the F.M.S. when they're at home?
Chapter 2 of The Circle: A Comedy in Three Acts by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham holds 441 sentences, grouped into 89 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 2 holds 441 sentences of The Circle: A Comedy in Three Acts, unabridged, divided into 89 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Circle: A Comedy in Three Acts by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 441 sentences, grouped into 89 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 89 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 89 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 2 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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Words and structures a reader meets early in The Circle: A Comedy in Three Acts, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
