Chapter 5 of The Clock Strikes Thirteen is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Clock Strikes Thirteen is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Penny had been watching the road carefully. They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off. On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods. "Let's not turn back yet," she pleaded. "We still have a chance."
Chapter 5 of The Clock Strikes Thirteen is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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 “highway” — a major road for any form of motor transport
From this reading “They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.”
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading “Penny had been watching the road carefully.”
past form of “plead” — appeal or request earnestly
From this reading “"Let's not turn back yet," she pleaded.”
plural of “stretch” — a large and unbroken expanse or distance
From this reading “On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.”
drench or submerge or be drenched or submerged
From this reading “On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.”
a public road from one place to another
From this reading “On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.”
an automotive vehicle suitable for hauling
From this reading “They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.”
not having a paved surface
From this reading “On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.”
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 “They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.”
retrace one's course
In this reading “"Let's not turn back yet," she pleaded.”
In this reading “On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.”
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 "We still have a chance."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading "Let's not turn back yet," she pleaded.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Penny had been watching the road carefully.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
taking care or paying attention
From this reading Penny had been watching the road carefully.
definite but not specified or identified
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances
From this reading "We still have a chance."
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
one or the other of two
From this reading On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Penny had been watching the road carefully.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
plural of “highway” — a major road for any form of motor transport
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Let's not turn back yet," she pleaded.
lacking companions or companionship
From this reading On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.
not any; not one
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading Penny had been watching the road carefully.
past form of “plead” — appeal or request earnestly
From this reading "Let's not turn back yet," she pleaded.
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading Penny had been watching the road carefully.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
not in physical motion
From this reading "We still have a chance."
plural of “stretch” — a large and unbroken expanse or distance
From this reading On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.
drench or submerge or be drenched or submerged
From this reading On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Penny had been watching the road carefully.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
a public road from one place to another
From this reading On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.
an automotive vehicle suitable for hauling
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense
From this reading "Let's not turn back yet," she pleaded.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading They had passed no bisecting highways, so she felt certain that the truck could not have turned off.
not having a paved surface
From this reading On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.
the act of observing; taking a patient look
From this reading Penny had been watching the road carefully.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "We still have a chance."
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading On either side of the unpaved thoroughfare were lonely stretches of swamp and woods.
but in spite of that
From this reading "Let's not turn back yet," she pleaded.
Chapter 5 of The Clock Strikes Thirteen by Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine) Wirt holds 424 sentences, grouped into 85 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 424 sentences of The Clock Strikes Thirteen, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Clock Strikes Thirteen by Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine) Wirt exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 424 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 Clock Strikes Thirteen by Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine) Wirt on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3792 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #34403 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #34403, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 316 minutes of reading across 759 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Clock Strikes Thirteen section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of The Clock Strikes Thirteen 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 Clock Strikes Thirteen, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
