Chapter 9 of The Happy Average is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Happy Average is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A FILIAL REBUKE "Father!" Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door. Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides. The judge stirred uneasily in his chair. "Oh!" she cried, rigidly clenching her little fists.
Chapter 9 of The Happy Average is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
British statesman who became prime minister in 1997 (born in 1953)
From this reading “Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.”
designating the generation or the sequence of generations following the parental generation
From this reading “A FILIAL REBUKE "Father!"”
plural of “fist” — a hand with the fingers clenched in the palm (as for hitting)
From this reading “"Oh!" she cried, rigidly clenching her little fists.”
a short vivid experience
From this reading “Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.”
censure severely or angrily
From this reading “A FILIAL REBUKE "Father!"”
in a rigid manner
From this reading “"Oh!" she cried, rigidly clenching her little fists.”
a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time
From this reading “Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.”
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading “The judge stirred uneasily in his chair.”
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.
exterior door (at the entrance) at the front of a building
In this reading “Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.”
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 FILIAL REBUKE "Father!"
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.
weapons considered collectively
From this reading Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.
British statesman who became prime minister in 1997 (born in 1953)
From this reading Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading The judge stirred uneasily in his chair.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Oh!" she cried, rigidly clenching her little fists.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading "Oh!" she cried, rigidly clenching her little fists.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading A FILIAL REBUKE "Father!"
designating the generation or the sequence of generations following the parental generation
From this reading A FILIAL REBUKE "Father!"
plural of “fist” — a hand with the fingers clenched in the palm (as for hitting)
From this reading "Oh!" she cried, rigidly clenching her little fists.
a short vivid experience
From this reading Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The judge stirred uneasily in his chair.
inflected form of “hang” — be suspended or hanging
From this reading Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.
determine the result of (a competition)
From this reading Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "Oh!" she cried, rigidly clenching her little fists.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "Oh!" she cried, rigidly clenching her little fists.
censure severely or angrily
From this reading A FILIAL REBUKE "Father!"
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.
in a rigid manner
From this reading "Oh!" she cried, rigidly clenching her little fists.
cut with a saw
From this reading Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Oh!" she cried, rigidly clenching her little fists.
plural of “side” — a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.
having a supporting base
From this reading Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.
being excited or provoked to the expression of an emotion
From this reading The judge stirred uneasily in his chair.
successive (without a break)
From this reading Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.
a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time
From this reading Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading The judge stirred uneasily in his chair.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Her face was red, her eyes were flashing, her arms hung straight and tense at her sides.
having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
From this reading Judge Blair turned and saw Lavinia standing in the wide front door.
Chapter 9 of The Happy Average by Brand Whitlock holds 136 sentences, grouped into 28 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 9 holds 136 sentences of The Happy Average, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Happy Average by Brand Whitlock exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 136 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 9 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 Happy Average by Brand Whitlock on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3524 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #45728 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #45728, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 293 minutes of reading across 705 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Happy Average section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 32 chapters of The Happy Average 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 Happy Average, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
