Chapter 5 of The Gates of Chance is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Gates of Chance is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"I shall sail Thursday." "And you will be gone how long?" "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda. I may be back in a fortnight, and in that case I will make an engagement with you. We will take a ride together on a trolley-car."
Chapter 5 of The Gates of Chance is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
female equivalent of a count or earl
From this reading “"That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.”
third-person singular of “depend” — be contingent upon (something that is elided)
From this reading “"That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.”
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading “I may be back in a fortnight, and in that case I will make an engagement with you.”
a period of fourteen consecutive days
From this reading “I may be back in a fortnight, and in that case I will make an engagement with you.”
characterized by charm, good taste, and generosity of spirit
From this reading “"That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.”
sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading “We will take a ride together on a trolley-car."”
traverse or travel on (a body of water)
From this reading “"I shall sail Thursday."”
the fifth day of the week; the fourth working day
From this reading “"I shall sail Thursday."”
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 I may be back in a fortnight, and in that case I will make an engagement with you.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading I may be back in a fortnight, and in that case I will make an engagement with you.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "And you will be gone how long?"
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading I may be back in a fortnight, and in that case I will make an engagement with you.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "And you will be gone how long?"
an occurrence of something
From this reading I may be back in a fortnight, and in that case I will make an engagement with you.
female equivalent of a count or earl
From this reading "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.
third-person singular of “depend” — be contingent upon (something that is elided)
From this reading "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading I may be back in a fortnight, and in that case I will make an engagement with you.
a period of fourteen consecutive days
From this reading I may be back in a fortnight, and in that case I will make an engagement with you.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.
destroyed or killed
From this reading "And you will be gone how long?"
characterized by charm, good taste, and generosity of spirit
From this reading "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "And you will be gone how long?"
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I shall sail Thursday."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading I may be back in a fortnight, and in that case I will make an engagement with you.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.
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 "And you will be gone how long?"
engage in
From this reading I may be back in a fortnight, and in that case I will make an engagement with you.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading I may be back in a fortnight, and in that case I will make an engagement with you.
used to form the superlative
From this reading "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading We will take a ride together on a trolley-car."
a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.
sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading We will take a ride together on a trolley-car."
traverse or travel on (a body of water)
From this reading "I shall sail Thursday."
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading "I shall sail Thursday."
carry out
From this reading We will take a ride together on a trolley-car."
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.
the fifth day of the week; the fourth working day
From this reading "I shall sail Thursday."
in contact with each other or in proximity
From this reading We will take a ride together on a trolley-car."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We will take a ride together on a trolley-car."
a formal word for “on”
From this reading "That depends, doesn't it, upon the pleasure of that most gracious lady the Countess Gilda.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We will take a ride together on a trolley-car."
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "And you will be gone how long?"
in the company of; together with
From this reading I may be back in a fortnight, and in that case I will make an engagement with you.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "And you will be gone how long?"
Chapter 5 of The Gates of Chance by Van Tassel Sutphen holds 429 sentences, grouped into 86 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 429 sentences of The Gates of Chance, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Gates of Chance by Van Tassel Sutphen exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 429 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 Gates of Chance by Van Tassel Sutphen on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3853 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3758 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3758, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 321 minutes of reading across 771 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Gates of Chance section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of The Gates of Chance 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 Gates of Chance, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
