Chapter 2 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story is here in full — 311 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story is here in full — 311 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold. He was short, wiry, and very dark. His nose was long and complacently tilted at the end. His eyes were small and very black. His mouth was a wide, uncertain slit.
Chapter 2 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story is here in full — 311 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/62 · 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.
in a self-satisfied manner
From this reading “His nose was long and complacently tilted at the end.”
deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading “SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.”
unusual or striking
From this reading “SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.”
a long narrow opening
From this reading “His mouth was a wide, uncertain slit.”
the starting point for a new state or experience
From this reading “SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.”
departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal
From this reading “His nose was long and complacently tilted at the end.”
lacking or indicating lack of confidence or assurance
From this reading “His mouth was a wide, uncertain slit.”
lean and sinewy
From this reading “He was short, wiry, and very dark.”
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 SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He was short, wiry, and very dark.
past form of “answer” — react verbally
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading His eyes were small and very black.
in a self-satisfied manner
From this reading His nose was long and complacently tilted at the end.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading He was short, wiry, and very dark.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading His nose was long and complacently tilted at the end.
opinion or judgment
From this reading His eyes were small and very black.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was short, wiry, and very dark.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His nose was long and complacently tilted at the end.
deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
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 His nose was long and complacently tilted at the end.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading His mouth was a wide, uncertain slit.
the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
From this reading His nose was long and complacently tilted at the end.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
a Portuguese title of respect; equivalent to English “Mr”
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading He was short, wiry, and very dark.
unusual or striking
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
a long narrow opening
From this reading His mouth was a wide, uncertain slit.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading His eyes were small and very black.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
the starting point for a new state or experience
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal
From this reading His nose was long and complacently tilted at the end.
lacking or indicating lack of confidence or assurance
From this reading His mouth was a wide, uncertain slit.
precisely as stated
From this reading He was short, wiry, and very dark.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was short, wiry, and very dark.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading His eyes were small and very black.
at the time that
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
From this reading His mouth was a wide, uncertain slit.
lean and sinewy
From this reading He was short, wiry, and very dark.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading SENHOR PORITOL When Orme answered the knock at the door a singular young man stood at the threshold.
Chapter 2 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story by Bannister Merwin holds 311 sentences, grouped into 63 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 2 holds 311 sentences of The Girl and the Bill An American Story, unabridged, divided into 63 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story by Bannister Merwin exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 311 sentences, grouped into 63 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 63 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 63 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 2 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 Girl and the Bill An American Story by Bannister Merwin on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5707 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #25799 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #25799, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 475 minutes of reading across 1142 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Girl and the Bill An American Story section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Girl and the Bill An American Story 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 Girl and the Bill An American Story, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
