Chapter 4 of The Girls of St. Olave's is here in full — 86 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Girls of St. Olave's is here in full — 86 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A SMALL WORLD. "Does you want a boat?" Such a soft, clear little voice! Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat. There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
Chapter 4 of The Girls of St. Olave's is here in full — 86 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/17 · 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.
completely unclothed
From this reading “There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.”
of surpassing excellence
From this reading “There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.”
third-person singular of “deny” — declare untrue; contradict
From this reading “Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.”
a slight but appreciable amount
From this reading “There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.”
plural of “petticoat” — undergarment worn under a skirt
From this reading “There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.”
a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
From this reading “Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.”
uttered through the medium of speech or characterized by speech; sometimes used in combination
From this reading “There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.”
of the color intermediate between green and orange in the color spectrum; of something resembling the color of an egg yolk
From this reading “Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.”
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 SMALL WORLD.
anew
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
completely unclothed
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading "Does you want a boat?"
a youthful male person
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
of surpassing excellence
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
rid of obstructions
From this reading Such a soft, clear little voice!
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
third-person singular of “deny” — declare untrue; contradict
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
the form of “do” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Does you want a boat?"
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Such a soft, clear little voice!
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
a slight but appreciable amount
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
near in time or place or relationship
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
not any; not one
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
plural of “petticoat” — undergarment worn under a skirt
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
with speed
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading A SMALL WORLD.
yielding readily to pressure or weight
From this reading Such a soft, clear little voice!
uttered through the medium of speech or characterized by speech; sometimes used in combination
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading Such a soft, clear little voice!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading Such a soft, clear little voice!
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading "Does you want a boat?"
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
in the company of; together with
From this reading There was no one near enough to have spoken to her but a mite of a boy in petticoats, with bare feet and yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading A SMALL WORLD.
of the color intermediate between green and orange in the color spectrum; of something resembling the color of an egg yolk
From this reading Denys turned quickly and looked up, but her eyes had to come down again to the yellow sand on which she sat.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Does you want a boat?"
Chapter 4 of The Girls of St. Olave's by Mabel Mackintosh holds 86 sentences, grouped into 18 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 4 holds 86 sentences of The Girls of St. Olave's, unabridged, divided into 18 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Girls of St. Olave's by Mabel Mackintosh exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 86 sentences, grouped into 18 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 18 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 18 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 4 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 Girls of St. Olave's by Mabel Mackintosh on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2147 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #27495 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #27495, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 178 minutes of reading across 430 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Girls of St. Olave's section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of The Girls of St. Olave's 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 Girls of St. Olave's, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
