Chapter 16 of The Last Call: A Romance (Vol. 2 of 3) is here in full — 53 sentences across 11 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of The Last Call: A Romance (Vol. 2 of 3) is here in full — 53 sentences across 11 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went. He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head. The pauses and beats, he assumed, of traffic in the artery of time. But he knew nothing certain. He had kept no record whatever.
Chapter 16 of The Last Call: A Romance (Vol. 2 of 3) is here in full — 53 sentences across 11 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/10 · 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.
inflected form of “arise” — come into existence; take on form or shape
From this reading “Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.”
a blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body
From this reading “The pauses and beats, he assumed, of traffic in the artery of time.”
-ing form of “ascertain” — establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study
From this reading “Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.”
adopted in order to deceive
From this reading “The pauses and beats, he assumed, of traffic in the artery of time.”
a United States youth subculture of the 1950s; rejected possessions or regular work or traditional dress; for communal living and psychedelic drugs and anarchism; favored modern forms of jazz (e.g., bebop)
From this reading “He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.”
plural of “pause” — a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
From this reading “He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.”
the aggregation of things (pedestrians or vehicles) coming and going in a particular locality during a specified period of time
From this reading “He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.”
extraordinarily large in size or extent or amount or power or degree
From this reading “Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.”
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.
In this reading “Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.”
In this reading “He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.”
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.
higher than, or over, something
From this reading He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
inflected form of “arise” — come into existence; take on form or shape
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
a blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body
From this reading The pauses and beats, he assumed, of traffic in the artery of time.
-ing form of “ascertain” — establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
adopted in order to deceive
From this reading The pauses and beats, he assumed, of traffic in the artery of time.
a United States youth subculture of the 1950s; rejected possessions or regular work or traditional dress; for communal living and psychedelic drugs and anarchism; favored modern forms of jazz (e.g., bebop)
From this reading He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But he knew nothing certain.
definite but not specified or identified
From this reading He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.
disorder resulting from a failure to behave predictably
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
intentionally conceived
From this reading He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.
(especially of promises or contracts) not violated or disregarded
From this reading He had kept no record whatever.
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 But he knew nothing certain.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
thing or person that acts to produce a particular effect or achieve an end
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
not any; not one
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound)
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading But he knew nothing certain.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
plural of “pause” — a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
From this reading He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.
anything (such as a document or a phonograph record or a photograph) providing permanent evidence of or information about past events
From this reading He had kept no record whatever.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
the aggregation of things (pedestrians or vehicles) coming and going in a particular locality during a specified period of time
From this reading He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.
extraordinarily large in size or extent or amount or power or degree
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was conscious of certain pauses and beats in the great noise of traffic above his head.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Before this tremendous noise and confusion had arisen, Lavirotte had no means of ascertaining how time went.
any or all of a kind, it does not matter which
From this reading He had kept no record whatever.
Chapter 16 of The Last Call: A Romance (Vol. 2 of 3) by Richard Dowling holds 53 sentences, grouped into 11 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 16 holds 53 sentences of The Last Call: A Romance (Vol. 2 of 3), unabridged, divided into 11 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of The Last Call: A Romance (Vol. 2 of 3) by Richard Dowling exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 53 sentences, grouped into 11 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 11 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 11 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 16 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 Last Call: A Romance (Vol. 2 of 3) by Richard Dowling on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1956 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #42596 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #42596, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 163 minutes of reading across 392 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Last Call: A Romance (Vol. 2 of 3) section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Last Call: A Romance (Vol. 2 of 3) 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 Last Call: A Romance (Vol. 2 of 3), each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
