Chapter 18 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story is here in full — 219 sentences across 44 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story is here in full — 219 sentences across 44 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car. It was a black car--a car with strangely familiar lines. Orme started. "Where did that come from?" he demanded. Bessie smiled at him.
Chapter 18 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story is here in full — 219 sentences across 44 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/43 · 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 motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading “THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car.”
a man paid to drive a privately owned car
From this reading “THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car.”
past form of “demand” — request urgently and forcefully
From this reading “"Where did that come from?" he demanded.”
well known or easily recognized
From this reading “It was a black car--a car with strangely familiar lines.”
the state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve and that (when achieved) terminates behavior intended to achieve it
From this reading “THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car.”
plural of “line” — a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading “It was a black car--a car with strangely familiar lines.”
an open or empty space in or between things
From this reading “THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car.”
in a strange manner
From this reading “It was a black car--a car with strangely familiar lines.”
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 It was a black car--a car with strangely familiar lines.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Bessie smiled at him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bessie smiled at him.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading It was a black car--a car with strangely familiar lines.
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car.
a man paid to drive a privately owned car
From this reading THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading "Where did that come from?" he demanded.
past form of “demand” — request urgently and forcefully
From this reading "Where did that come from?" he demanded.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading "Where did that come from?" he demanded.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car.
well known or easily recognized
From this reading It was a black car--a car with strangely familiar lines.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading "Where did that come from?" he demanded.
the state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve and that (when achieved) terminates behavior intended to achieve it
From this reading THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Where did that come from?" he demanded.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Bessie smiled at him.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a black car--a car with strangely familiar lines.
plural of “line” — a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading It was a black car--a car with strangely familiar lines.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car.
an open or empty space in or between things
From this reading THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Orme started.
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading Bessie smiled at him.
past form of “start” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Orme started.
in a strange manner
From this reading It was a black car--a car with strangely familiar lines.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "Where did that come from?" he demanded.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car.
the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)
From this reading THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THE GOAL The chauffeur was opening the door of the waiting car.
in or at the place that
From this reading "Where did that come from?" he demanded.
in the company of; together with
From this reading It was a black car--a car with strangely familiar lines.
Chapter 18 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story by Bannister Merwin holds 219 sentences, grouped into 44 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 18 holds 219 sentences of The Girl and the Bill An American Story, unabridged, divided into 44 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 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 219 sentences, grouped into 44 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 44 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 44 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 18 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.
