Chapter 6 of The Insect Folk is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of The Insect Folk is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel. What a strange proceeding! Who can be living down there at the bottom of the funnel? We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels. We shall have to be quick, too.
Chapter 6 of The Insect Folk is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
social insect living in organized colonies; characteristically the males and fertile queen have wings during breeding season; wingless sterile females are the workers
From this reading “The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.”
turn up, loosen, or remove earth
From this reading “We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.”
move deeply
From this reading “We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.”
inflected form of “drag” — pull, as against a resistance
From this reading “The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.”
a conical shape with a wider and a narrower opening at the two ends
From this reading “The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.”
plural of “funnel” — a conical shape with a wider and a narrower opening at the two ends
From this reading “We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.”
an opening into or through something
From this reading “The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.”
(law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked
From this reading “What a strange proceeding!”
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 The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
social insect living in organized colonies; characteristically the males and fertile queen have wings during breeding season; wingless sterile females are the workers
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Who can be living down there at the bottom of the funnel?
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Who can be living down there at the bottom of the funnel?
the past participle of “be”
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
the lower side of anything
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Who can be living down there at the bottom of the funnel?
turn up, loosen, or remove earth
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
move deeply
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
inflected form of “drag” — pull, as against a resistance
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
a conical shape with a wider and a narrower opening at the two ends
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
plural of “funnel” — a conical shape with a wider and a narrower opening at the two ends
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
an opening into or through something
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
From this reading Who can be living down there at the bottom of the funnel?
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
a separate part of a whole
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
(law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked
From this reading What a strange proceeding!
accomplished rapidly and without delay
From this reading We shall have to be quick, too.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading What a strange proceeding!
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Who can be living down there at the bottom of the funnel?
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading The ant has been dragged down out of sight through a hole in the bottom of the funnel.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading We shall have to be quick, too.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What a strange proceeding!
which person or people
From this reading Who can be living down there at the bottom of the funnel?
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading We are sorry to disturb such a pretty piece of work, but we shall have to dig out one of the funnels.
Chapter 6 of The Insect Folk by Margaret Warner Morley holds 423 sentences, grouped into 85 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 6 holds 423 sentences of The Insect Folk, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of The Insect Folk by Margaret Warner Morley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 423 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 6 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 Insect Folk by Margaret Warner Morley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2690 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #18790 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #18790, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 224 minutes of reading across 538 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Insect Folk section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of The Insect Folk 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 Insect Folk, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
