Chapter 6 of The Gates of Chance is here in full — 427 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of The Gates of Chance is here in full — 427 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"A hundred, and be damned to you!" "Two hundred." There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy. Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar. A severe-looking old man expressed his entire disapproval of the proceedings.
Chapter 6 of The Gates of Chance is here in full — 427 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.
a roll of tobacco for smoking
From this reading “Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.”
expletives used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “"A hundred, and be damned to you!"”
a feeling of disliking something or what someone is doing
From this reading “A severe-looking old man expressed his entire disapproval of the proceedings.”
constituting the full quantity or extent; complete
From this reading “A severe-looking old man expressed his entire disapproval of the proceedings.”
an expectation
From this reading “There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.”
full of or characterized by joy
From this reading “There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.”
(law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked
From this reading “A severe-looking old man expressed his entire disapproval of the proceedings.”
covered or soaked with a liquid such as water
From this reading “Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.”
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 "A hundred, and be damned to you!"
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "A hundred, and be damned to you!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "A hundred, and be damned to you!"
the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
From this reading There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.
a roll of tobacco for smoking
From this reading Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.
cause to herd, drive, or crowd together
From this reading There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.
expletives used informally as intensifiers
From this reading "A hundred, and be damned to you!"
a feeling of disliking something or what someone is doing
From this reading A severe-looking old man expressed his entire disapproval of the proceedings.
constituting the full quantity or extent; complete
From this reading A severe-looking old man expressed his entire disapproval of the proceedings.
an expectation
From this reading There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.
communicated in words
From this reading A severe-looking old man expressed his entire disapproval of the proceedings.
the part of the face above the eyes
From this reading Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.
ten 10s
From this reading "A hundred, and be damned to you!"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.
lacking determination or decisiveness
From this reading Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.
full of or characterized by joy
From this reading There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading A severe-looking old man expressed his entire disapproval of the proceedings.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A severe-looking old man expressed his entire disapproval of the proceedings.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading A severe-looking old man expressed his entire disapproval of the proceedings.
above and across; more than
From this reading Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
From this reading There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.
(law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked
From this reading A severe-looking old man expressed his entire disapproval of the proceedings.
past form of “pull” — cause to move by pulling
From this reading Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A severe-looking old man expressed his entire disapproval of the proceedings.
marked by absence of sound
From this reading There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "A hundred, and be damned to you!"
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading "Two hundred."
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was a pause; the crowd held its breath in silent and joyous expectancy.
covered or soaked with a liquid such as water
From this reading Joe Bardi passed a hand over his wet forehead and pulled irresolutely upon his cigar.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "A hundred, and be damned to you!"
Chapter 6 of The Gates of Chance by Van Tassel Sutphen holds 427 sentences, grouped into 86 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 6 holds 427 sentences of The Gates of Chance, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of The Gates of Chance by Van Tassel Sutphen exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 427 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 6 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, unabridged. 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.
