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.
"I was hoping that the brute had gone. It _is_ a sickener, and no mistake!" John ascended the battered, worn-out staircase, wondering who the "brute" was. Perhaps a sort of Flashman. John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
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 48/104 · 5 reading units · Lines 236–240
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.
past form of “ascend” — travel up
From this reading “John ascended the battered, worn-out staircase, wondering who the "brute" was.”
damaged by blows or hard usage
From this reading “John ascended the battered, worn-out staircase, wondering who the "brute" was.”
a cruelly rapacious person
From this reading “"I was hoping that the brute had gone.”
the act of intimidating a weaker person to make them do something
From this reading “John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.”
-ing form of “hope” — expect and wish
From this reading “"I was hoping that the brute had gone.”
a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
From this reading “It _is_ a sickener, and no mistake!"”
a way of access (upward and downward) consisting of a set of steps
From this reading “John ascended the battered, worn-out staircase, wondering who the "brute" was.”
showing curiosity
From this reading “John ascended the battered, worn-out staircase, wondering who the "brute" was.”
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 _is_ a sickener, and no mistake!"
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It _is_ a sickener, and no mistake!"
past form of “ascend” — travel up
From this reading John ascended the battered, worn-out staircase, wondering who the "brute" was.
damaged by blows or hard usage
From this reading John ascended the battered, worn-out staircase, wondering who the "brute" was.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
an orange of low brightness and saturation
From this reading John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
a cruelly rapacious person
From this reading "I was hoping that the brute had gone.
the act of intimidating a weaker person to make them do something
From this reading John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
past form of “cease” — put an end to a state or an activity
From this reading John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Perhaps a sort of Flashman.
destroyed or killed
From this reading "I was hoping that the brute had gone.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "I was hoping that the brute had gone.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
-ing form of “hope” — expect and wish
From this reading "I was hoping that the brute had gone.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I was hoping that the brute had gone.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It _is_ a sickener, and no mistake!"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It _is_ a sickener, and no mistake!"
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading John ascended the battered, worn-out staircase, wondering who the "brute" was.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
From this reading It _is_ a sickener, and no mistake!"
not any; not one
From this reading It _is_ a sickener, and no mistake!"
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Perhaps a sort of Flashman.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
by chance
From this reading Perhaps a sort of Flashman.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It _is_ a sickener, and no mistake!"
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading Perhaps a sort of Flashman.
a way of access (upward and downward) consisting of a set of steps
From this reading John ascended the battered, worn-out staircase, wondering who the "brute" was.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "I was hoping that the brute had gone.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "I was hoping that the brute had gone.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
male cat
From this reading John knew his _Tom Brown_; but some one had told him that bullying had ceased to be.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "I was hoping that the brute had gone.
which person or people
From this reading John ascended the battered, worn-out staircase, wondering who the "brute" was.
showing curiosity
From this reading John ascended the battered, worn-out staircase, wondering who the "brute" was.
used until no longer useful
From this reading John ascended the battered, worn-out staircase, wondering who the "brute" was.
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.
