Chapter 20 of The Man in Lower Ten is here in full — 95 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Man in Lower Ten is here in full — 95 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone. She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated. “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.” “Certainly.” I sat down opposite her and glanced at a cuckoo clock on the wall.
Chapter 20 of The Man in Lower Ten is here in full — 95 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/19 · 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.
an agreement between parties (usually arrived at after discussion) fixing obligations of each
From this reading “THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.”
a timepiece that shows the time of day
From this reading “I sat down opposite her and glanced at a cuckoo clock on the wall.”
a man who is a stupid incompetent fool
From this reading “I sat down opposite her and glanced at a cuckoo clock on the wall.”
past form of “glance” — throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading “I sat down opposite her and glanced at a cuckoo clock on the wall.”
plural of “note” — a brief written record
From this reading “THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.”
in a manner differing from the usual or expected
From this reading “She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.”
past form of “vacate” — leave (a job, post, or position) voluntarily
From this reading “She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.”
having great material or monetary value especially for use or exchange
From this reading ““Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.””
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 NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
Having no one else present.
From this reading THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading I sat down opposite her and glanced at a cuckoo clock on the wall.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
an agreement between parties (usually arrived at after discussion) fixing obligations of each
From this reading THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading “Certainly.”
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.
a timepiece that shows the time of day
From this reading I sat down opposite her and glanced at a cuckoo clock on the wall.
a man who is a stupid incompetent fool
From this reading I sat down opposite her and glanced at a cuckoo clock on the wall.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
United States actor (born in Ireland); father of Georgiana Emma Barrymore (1827-1862)
From this reading She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
past form of “glance” — throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading I sat down opposite her and glanced at a cuckoo clock on the wall.
the act of departing
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading I sat down opposite her and glanced at a cuckoo clock on the wall.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
a form of address for a man
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
near in time or place or relationship
From this reading She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.
plural of “note” — a brief written record
From this reading THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
in a manner differing from the usual or expected
From this reading She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading I sat down opposite her and glanced at a cuckoo clock on the wall.
being directly across from each other; facing
From this reading I sat down opposite her and glanced at a cuckoo clock on the wall.
having a point
From this reading She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.
on the contrary
From this reading She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.
be seated
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.
carry out
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
past form of “vacate” — leave (a job, post, or position) voluntarily
From this reading She smiled rather oddly as I drew near, and pointed to the chair Bronson had vacated.
having great material or monetary value especially for use or exchange
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading I sat down opposite her and glanced at a cuckoo clock on the wall.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
in or at the place that
From this reading THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN I went back slowly to where the woman sat alone.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Sit down, Mr. Blakeley,” she said, “I am going to take a few minutes of your valuable time.”
Chapter 20 of The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart holds 95 sentences, grouped into 19 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 95 sentences of The Man in Lower Ten, unabridged, divided into 19 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 95 sentences, grouped into 19 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 19 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 19 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 Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4800 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1869 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1869, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 400 minutes of reading across 960 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Man in Lower Ten section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 31 chapters of The Man in Lower Ten 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 Man in Lower Ten, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
