Chapter 16 of The Great Accident is here in full — 499 sentences across 100 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of The Great Accident is here in full — 499 sentences across 100 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze. He stumbled, his head was down, his eyes were blank. He was stunned and humbled; and after he had left her, he began to feel defiant. He thought of words with which he could have crushed her and silenced her. Presuming to forgive him, to praise him.
Chapter 16 of The Great Accident is here in full — 499 sentences across 100 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/99 · 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.
the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally
From this reading “ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.”
boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
From this reading “He was stunned and humbled; and after he had left her, he began to feel defiant.”
subdued or brought low in condition or status
From this reading “He was stunned and humbled; and after he had left her, he began to feel defiant.”
a bank check that has been fraudulently altered to increase its face value
From this reading “ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.”
-ing form of “presume” — take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof
From this reading “Presuming to forgive him, to praise him.”
reduced to silence
From this reading “He thought of words with which he could have crushed her and silenced her.”
past form of “stumble” — walk unsteadily
From this reading “He stumbled, his head was down, his eyes were blank.”
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading “He was stunned and humbled; and after he had left her, he began to feel defiant.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
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 ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
later than; following
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He was stunned and humbled; and after he had left her, he began to feel defiant.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading He was stunned and humbled; and after he had left her, he began to feel defiant.
(of a surface) not written or printed on
From this reading He stumbled, his head was down, his eyes were blank.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading He thought of words with which he could have crushed her and silenced her.
treated so as to have a permanently wrinkled appearance
From this reading He thought of words with which he could have crushed her and silenced her.
the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
From this reading He was stunned and humbled; and after he had left her, he began to feel defiant.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He stumbled, his head was down, his eyes were blank.
come together
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
opinion or judgment
From this reading He stumbled, his head was down, his eyes were blank.
undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind
From this reading He was stunned and humbled; and after he had left her, he began to feel defiant.
stop blaming or grant forgiveness
From this reading Presuming to forgive him, to praise him.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He was stunned and humbled; and after he had left her, he began to feel defiant.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading He thought of words with which he could have crushed her and silenced her.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading He stumbled, his head was down, his eyes were blank.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading He was stunned and humbled; and after he had left her, he began to feel defiant.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Presuming to forgive him, to praise him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He stumbled, his head was down, his eyes were blank.
subdued or brought low in condition or status
From this reading He was stunned and humbled; and after he had left her, he began to feel defiant.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
a bank check that has been fraudulently altered to increase its face value
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He thought of words with which he could have crushed her and silenced her.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
an expression of approval and commendation
From this reading Presuming to forgive him, to praise him.
-ing form of “presume” — take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof
From this reading Presuming to forgive him, to praise him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
reduced to silence
From this reading He thought of words with which he could have crushed her and silenced her.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
past form of “stumble” — walk unsteadily
From this reading He stumbled, his head was down, his eyes were blank.
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading He was stunned and humbled; and after he had left her, he began to feel defiant.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading He thought of words with which he could have crushed her and silenced her.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
close enough to be walked to
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading He stumbled, his head was down, his eyes were blank.
at the time that
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading He thought of words with which he could have crushed her and silenced her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ROUTT TO KITE When Wint left Joan, after their encounter on the street, he was walking in a daze.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He thought of words with which he could have crushed her and silenced her.
the words that are spoken
From this reading He thought of words with which he could have crushed her and silenced her.
Chapter 16 of The Great Accident by Ben Ames Williams holds 499 sentences, grouped into 100 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 16 holds 499 sentences of The Great Accident, unabridged, divided into 100 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of The Great Accident by Ben Ames Williams exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 499 sentences, grouped into 100 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 100 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 100 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 16 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 Great Accident by Ben Ames Williams on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 12440 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #64002 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #64002, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2488 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Great Accident section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 38 chapters of The Great Accident 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 Great Accident, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
