Chapter 1 of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel is here in full — 26 sentences across 6 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel is here in full — 26 sentences across 6 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BY E. F. BENSON. The Luck of the Vails. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
Chapter 1 of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel is here in full — 26 sentences across 6 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/5 · 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.
past form of “characterize” — describe or portray the character or the qualities or peculiarities of
From this reading “This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.”
artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers
From this reading “Cloth, $1.50.”
-ing form of “culminate” — end, especially to reach a final or climactic stage
From this reading “This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.”
suitable to or characteristic of drama
From this reading “This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.”
possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree
From this reading “This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.”
belonging to the modern era; since the Middle Ages
From this reading “This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.”
unusual or striking
From this reading “This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.”
a relationship between two lovers
From this reading “This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.”
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 “This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.”
In this reading “This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.”
In this reading “This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.”
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 Cloth, $1.50.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 12mo.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BY E. F. BENSON.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading BY E. F. BENSON.
past form of “characterize” — describe or portray the character or the qualities or peculiarities of
From this reading This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers
From this reading Cloth, $1.50.
-ing form of “culminate” — end, especially to reach a final or climactic stage
From this reading This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
suitable to or characteristic of drama
From this reading This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
a fat-soluble vitamin that is essential for normal reproduction; an important antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals in the body
From this reading BY E. F. BENSON.
a degree on the Fahrenheit scale of temperature
From this reading BY E. F. BENSON.
possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree
From this reading This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something
From this reading This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
From this reading The Luck of the Vails.
an indefinitely short time
From this reading 12mo.
belonging to the modern era; since the Middle Ages
From this reading This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The Luck of the Vails.
possession of controlling influence
From this reading This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
unusual or striking
From this reading This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
a relationship between two lovers
From this reading This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Luck of the Vails.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This romance of modern life is characterized by intense and culminating interest and remarkable dramatic power.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Luck of the Vails.
Chapter 1 of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel by E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson holds 26 sentences, grouped into 6 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 26 sentences of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 6 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel by E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 26 sentences, grouped into 6 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 6 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 6 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.
Common questions about reading The Luck of the Vails: A Novel by E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6563 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #57690 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #57690, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 546 minutes of reading across 1313 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Luck of the Vails: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel 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 Luck of the Vails: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
