Chapter 39 of The Lock and Key Library — Modern English is here in full — 201 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter 39 of The Lock and Key Library — Modern English is here in full — 201 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"My dear--!" I was too amazed to expostulate. "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine. Oh, I'm so sorry and so ashamed! The poor bishop!
Chapter 39 of The Lock and Key Library — Modern English is here in full — 201 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/40 · 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.
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading “I was too amazed to expostulate.”
with anger
From this reading “"We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.”
feeling shame or guilt or embarrassment or remorse
From this reading “Oh, I'm so sorry and so ashamed!”
a senior member of the Christian clergy having spiritual and administrative authority; appointed in Christian churches to oversee priests or ministers; considered in some churches to be successors of the twelve Apostles of Christ
From this reading “The poor bishop!”
made known or openly avowed
From this reading “"We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.”
a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal
From this reading “"We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.”
enforced isolation of patients suffering from a contagious disease in order to prevent the spread of disease
From this reading “"We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.”
the sound of light blow or knock
From this reading “"We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.”
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 "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading I was too amazed to expostulate.
surrounded by; in the middle of a group
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
with anger
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
feeling shame or guilt or embarrassment or remorse
From this reading Oh, I'm so sorry and so ashamed!
a senior member of the Christian clergy having spiritual and administrative authority; appointed in Christian churches to oversee priests or ministers; considered in some churches to be successors of the twelve Apostles of Christ
From this reading The poor bishop!
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
dearly loved
From this reading "My dear--!"
made known or openly avowed
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
reason with (somebody) for the purpose of dissuasion
From this reading I was too amazed to expostulate.
the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
the solid part of the earth's surface
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I was too amazed to expostulate.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Oh, I'm so sorry and so ashamed!
moving to the inside of something
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "My dear--!"
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading Oh, I'm so sorry and so ashamed!
a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading The poor bishop!
enforced isolation of patients suffering from a contagious disease in order to prevent the spread of disease
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Oh, I'm so sorry and so ashamed!
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
From this reading Oh, I'm so sorry and so ashamed!
the sound of light blow or knock
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I was too amazed to expostulate.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading I was too amazed to expostulate.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I was too amazed to expostulate.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "We've got a--a pestilence among us," she declared, her foot tapping the ground angrily, "and the least we can do is to go into quarantine.
Chapter 39 of The Lock and Key Library — Modern English by Julian [Editor] Hawthorne holds 201 sentences, grouped into 41 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 39 holds 201 sentences of The Lock and Key Library — Modern English, unabridged, divided into 41 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 39 of The Lock and Key Library — Modern English by Julian [Editor] Hawthorne exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 201 sentences, grouped into 41 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 41 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 41 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 39 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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About 600 minutes of reading across 1605 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Lock and Key Library — Modern English section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Lock and Key Library — Modern English, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
