Chapter 1 of The Hill: A Romance of Friendship is here in full — 523 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Hill: A Romance of Friendship is here in full — 523 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow." Desmond smiled. The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome. Desmond added abruptly, "My name, Desmond, is a Harrow name. My father, my grandfather, my uncles, and three brothers were here.
Chapter 1 of The Hill: A Romance of Friendship is here in full — 523 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 37/104 · 5 reading units · Lines 181–185
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.
quickly and without warning
From this reading “Desmond added abruptly, "My name, Desmond, is a Harrow name.”
plural of “brother” — a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading “My father, my grandfather, my uncles, and three brothers were here.”
diffusing warmth and friendliness
From this reading “The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome.”
the father of your father or mother
From this reading “My father, my grandfather, my uncles, and three brothers were here.”
draw a harrow over
From this reading “Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."”
in an anxiously nervous manner
From this reading “Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."”
get by special effort
From this reading “The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome.”
plural of “uncle” — the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading “My father, my grandfather, my uncles, and three brothers were here.”
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 Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
quickly and without warning
From this reading Desmond added abruptly, "My name, Desmond, is a Harrow name.
past form of “add” — make an addition (to); join or combine or unite with others; increase the quality, quantity, size or scope of
From this reading Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading My father, my grandfather, my uncles, and three brothers were here.
marked by assurance; exhibiting confidence
From this reading The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
plural of “brother” — a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading My father, my grandfather, my uncles, and three brothers were here.
diffusing warmth and friendliness
From this reading The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Desmond smiled.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading My father, my grandfather, my uncles, and three brothers were here.
the father of your father or mother
From this reading My father, my grandfather, my uncles, and three brothers were here.
draw a harrow over
From this reading Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading My father, my grandfather, my uncles, and three brothers were here.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Desmond added abruptly, "My name, Desmond, is a Harrow name.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Desmond added abruptly, "My name, Desmond, is a Harrow name.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome.
in an anxiously nervous manner
From this reading Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
Identical; not different.
From this reading Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
get by special effort
From this reading The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome.
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading Desmond smiled.
the immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life
From this reading Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then he added nervously, "All the same, I don't know a soul at Harrow."
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading My father, my grandfather, my uncles, and three brothers were here.
plural of “uncle” — the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading My father, my grandfather, my uncles, and three brothers were here.
accept gladly
From this reading The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading My father, my grandfather, my uncles, and three brothers were here.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading The smile assured John that his name would secure him a cordial welcome.
Chapter 1 of The Hill: A Romance of Friendship by Horace Annesley Vachell holds 523 sentences, grouped into 105 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 1 holds 523 sentences of The Hill: A Romance of Friendship, unabridged, divided into 105 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Hill: A Romance of Friendship by Horace Annesley Vachell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 523 sentences, grouped into 105 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 105 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 105 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 1 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.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in The Hill: A Romance of Friendship, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
