Chapter 1 of The Daisy Chain, or Aspirations is here in full — 210 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Daisy Chain, or Aspirations is here in full — 210 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Si douce est la Marguerite.--CHAUCER. “Miss Winter, are you busy? Do you want this afternoon? Can you take a good long walk?” “Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.”
Chapter 1 of The Daisy Chain, or Aspirations is here in full — 210 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/42 · 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 part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading “Do you want this afternoon?”
actively or fully engaged or occupied
From this reading ““Miss Winter, are you busy?”
English poet remembered as author of the Canterbury Tales (1340-1400)
From this reading “Si douce est la Marguerite.--CHAUCER.”
standard time in the 5th time zone west of Greenwich, reckoned at the 75th meridian; used in the eastern United States
From this reading “Si douce est la Marguerite.--CHAUCER.”
Not remembered; lapsed from memory.
From this reading ““Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.””
tall leafy-stemmed Eurasian perennial with white flowers; widely naturalized; often placed in genus Chrysanthemum
From this reading “Si douce est la Marguerite.--CHAUCER.”
the act of traveling by foot
From this reading “Can you take a good long walk?””
the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading ““Miss Winter, are you busy?”
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 Can you take a good long walk?”
the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading Do you want this afternoon?
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “Miss Winter, are you busy?
actively or fully engaged or occupied
From this reading “Miss Winter, are you busy?
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Can you take a good long walk?”
English poet remembered as author of the Canterbury Tales (1340-1400)
From this reading Si douce est la Marguerite.--CHAUCER.
dearly loved
From this reading “Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.”
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Do you want this afternoon?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Si douce est la Marguerite.--CHAUCER.
standard time in the 5th time zone west of Greenwich, reckoned at the 75th meridian; used in the eastern United States
From this reading Si douce est la Marguerite.--CHAUCER.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.”
Not remembered; lapsed from memory.
From this reading “Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.”
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading Can you take a good long walk?”
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.”
rash impulsiveness
From this reading “Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.”
a white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily; occurs in rare earth minerals and is usually classified as a rare earth
From this reading Si douce est la Marguerite.--CHAUCER.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Can you take a good long walk?”
tall leafy-stemmed Eurasian perennial with white flowers; widely naturalized; often placed in genus Chrysanthemum
From this reading Si douce est la Marguerite.--CHAUCER.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading “Miss Winter, are you busy?
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.”
many times at short intervals
From this reading “Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.”
a tetravalent nonmetallic element; next to oxygen it is the most abundant element in the earth's crust; occurs in clay and feldspar and granite and quartz and sand; used as a semiconductor in transistors
From this reading Si douce est la Marguerite.--CHAUCER.
carry out
From this reading Can you take a good long walk?”
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Do you want this afternoon?
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading “Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.”
the act of traveling by foot
From this reading Can you take a good long walk?”
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading Do you want this afternoon?
the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading “Miss Winter, are you busy?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Miss Winter, are you busy?
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Ethel, my dear, how often have I told you of your impetuosity--you have forgotten.”
Chapter 1 of The Daisy Chain, or Aspirations by Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge holds 210 sentences, grouped into 42 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 1 holds 210 sentences of The Daisy Chain, or Aspirations, unabridged, divided into 42 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Daisy Chain, or Aspirations by Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 210 sentences, grouped into 42 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 42 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 42 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 1 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 Daisy Chain, or Aspirations by Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 15080 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3610 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3610, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 3016 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Daisy Chain, or Aspirations section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Daisy Chain, or Aspirations 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 Daisy Chain, or Aspirations, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
