Chapter XXXVIII of The Corner House, “Light in the Corner House,” is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter XXXVIII of The Corner House, “Light in the Corner House,” is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday. He did not seem in the least surprised. "Are you astonished?" Hetty asked. "Well, no," Lawrence said.
Chapter XXXVIII of The Corner House, “Light in the Corner House,” is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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.
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading “"Are you astonished?"”
Bound written or printed works.
From this reading “Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.”
a unit of magnetomotive force equal to 0.7958 ampere-turns
From this reading “Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.”
leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure
From this reading “Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.”
Roman martyr; supposedly Lawrence was ordered by the police to give up the church's treasure and when he responded by presenting the poor people of Rome he was roasted to death on a gridiron (died in 258)
From this reading “Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.”
writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature)
From this reading “Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.”
give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading “He did not seem in the least surprised.”
taken unawares or suddenly and feeling wonder or astonishment
From this reading “He did not seem in the least surprised.”
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.
place in a place where something cannot be removed or someone cannot escape
In this reading “Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.”
In this reading “Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.”
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 Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "Are you astonished?"
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading Hetty asked.
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading "Are you astonished?"
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
Bound written or printed works.
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading He did not seem in the least surprised.
a unit of magnetomotive force equal to 0.7958 ampere-turns
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He did not seem in the least surprised.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Hetty asked.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He did not seem in the least surprised.
Roman martyr; supposedly Lawrence was ordered by the police to give up the church's treasure and when he responded by presenting the poor people of Rome he was roasted to death on a gridiron (died in 258)
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree
From this reading He did not seem in the least surprised.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
thing or person that acts to produce a particular effect or achieve an end
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
not any; not one
From this reading "Well, no," Lawrence said.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He did not seem in the least surprised.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature)
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Well, no," Lawrence said.
give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading He did not seem in the least surprised.
taken unawares or suddenly and feeling wonder or astonishment
From this reading He did not seem in the least surprised.
carry out
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well, no," Lawrence said.
which person or people
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Gilbert Lawrence had put away his books and papers with the air of a man who means to take a holiday.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Are you astonished?"
Chapter 38 of The Corner House by Fred M. (Fred Merrick) White holds 185 sentences, grouped into 37 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 38 holds 185 sentences of The Corner House, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 38 of The Corner House by Fred M. (Fred Merrick) White exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 185 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 38 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 Corner House by Fred M. (Fred Merrick) White on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6099 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #57066 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #57066, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 508 minutes of reading across 1220 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Corner House section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Corner House 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 Corner House, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
