Complete classic literature • Five-line readings • Clear US narration
VELMORA ACADEMY
Academy of Archival Languages & Memory Studies
Menu Close
The Common Law
The Common Law

Chapter III

Cover illustration for The Common Law
Context Illustration Reading 1/71 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.
She had never before been late.
About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:
"It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"
"Not now.
0:00 / 0:00
Speed 0.75x
AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

The Common Law

Chapter III

Reading 1/71 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.
Line 2
She had never before been late.
Line 3
About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:
Line 4
"It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"
Line 5
"Not now.

Learner Dictionary

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, audio, and collocations from this reading.

About preposition US /əˈbaʊt/

on the subject of; concerning

From this reading “About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:”

Been auxiliary verb US /bɪn/

the past participle of “be”

From this reading “She had never before been late.”

Before preposition US /bɪˈfɔːr/

earlier than; in front of

From this reading “She had never before been late.”

Come noun US /come/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “"It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"”

Look noun US /look/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “"It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"”

Mine pronoun US /maɪn/

the one or ones belonging to the person speaking

From this reading “"It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"”

Never noun US /never/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “She had never before been late.”

One pronoun US /wʌn/

used to mean any person in general, including the speaker

From this reading “One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.”

Pipe noun US /pipe/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:”

Tell noun US /tell/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “"It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"”

Time noun US /time/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.”

Toward preposition US /təˈwɔːrd/

in the direction of

From this reading “One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.”

All words in this reading · 55

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

adeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

AboutprepositionUS /əˈbaʊt/

on the subject of; concerning

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

arrive

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

atprepositionUS /æt/

in or near a particular place or position

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

beenauxiliary verbUS /bɪn/

the past participle of “be”

From this reading She had never before been late.

beforeprepositionUS /bɪˈfɔːr/

earlier than; in front of

From this reading She had never before been late.

can't

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

comenounUS /come/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

damn

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

day

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

didauxiliary verbUS /dɪd/

the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/

the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect

From this reading She had never before been late.

hair

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

hepronounUS /hiː/

a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

herdeterminerUS /hɜːr/

belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

hisdeterminerUS /hɪz/

belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

inprepositionUS /ɪn/

inside something, or within a place, period, or state

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

It's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

June

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

Kelly

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

late

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had never before been late.

looknounUS /look/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

mepronounUS /miː/

the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

mermaid

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

middle

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

minepronounUS /maɪn/

the one or ones belonging to the person speaking

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

mouth

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

nevernounUS /never/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading She had never before been late.

notadverbUS /nɑːt/

used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

now

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "Not now.

o'clock

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

Ogilvy

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

onprepositionUS /ɑːn/

touching and supported by a surface

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

OnepronounUS /wʌn/

used to mean any person in general, including the speaker

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

pipe

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

rumpled

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

said

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

Sam

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

sauntered

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

ShepronounUS /ʃiː/

a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading She had never before been late.

skull

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

studio

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

tellnounUS /tell/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

thatconjunctionUS /ðæt/

used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

timenounUS /time/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

towardprepositionUS /təˈwɔːrd/

in the direction of

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

trouble

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

two

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading About two o'clock Sam Ogilvy sauntered in, a skull pipe in his mouth, his hair rumpled:

up

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

Valerie

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading One day toward the middle of June Valerie did not arrive on time at the studio.

what's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"

youpronounUS /juː/

the person or people being spoken to

From this reading "It's that damn mermaid of mine," he said, "can't you come up and look at her and tell me what's the trouble, Kelly?"