Chapter 20 of The Imperialist is here in full — 221 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Imperialist is here in full — 221 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Dear me!” said Dr Drummond. “Dear me! Well! And what does Advena Murchison say to all this?” He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.
Chapter 20 of The Imperialist is here in full — 221 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/44 · 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.
dearly loved
From this reading ““Dear me!” said Dr Drummond.”
possessive form of “doctor” — a licensed medical practitioner
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading “He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.”
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading “He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.”
express in words
From this reading “And what does Advena Murchison say to all this?””
(photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait)
From this reading “He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.”
a detailed critical inspection
From this reading “He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.”
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading “Well!”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And what does Advena Murchison say to all this?”
(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 And what does Advena Murchison say to all this?”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And what does Advena Murchison say to all this?”
dearly loved
From this reading “Dear me!” said Dr Drummond.
possessive form of “doctor” — a licensed medical practitioner
From this reading He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.
the form of “do” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading And what does Advena Murchison say to all this?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Dear me!” said Dr Drummond.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Dear me!” said Dr Drummond.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Dear me!” said Dr Drummond.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And what does Advena Murchison say to all this?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Dear me!” said Dr Drummond.
express in words
From this reading And what does Advena Murchison say to all this?”
(photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait)
From this reading He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.
a detailed critical inspection
From this reading He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading And what does Advena Murchison say to all this?”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading And what does Advena Murchison say to all this?”
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Well!
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading He and Hugh Finlay were sitting in the Doctor’s study, the pleasantest room in the house.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading And what does Advena Murchison say to all this?”
Chapter 20 of The Imperialist by Sara Jeannette Duncan holds 221 sentences, grouped into 45 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 20 holds 221 sentences of The Imperialist, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Imperialist by Sara Jeannette Duncan exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 221 sentences, grouped into 45 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 45 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 45 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 20 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 Imperialist by Sara Jeannette Duncan on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5008 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5301 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5301, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 417 minutes of reading across 1002 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Imperialist section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 32 chapters of The Imperialist 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 Imperialist, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
