Chapter 1 of The Matador of the Five Towns and Other is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Matador of the Five Towns and Other is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them. "Bob," she said, factitiously calm. "You don't know what I've just remembered!" "Well?" said he. "It's only grandma's birthday to-day!"
Chapter 1 of The Matador of the Five Towns and Other is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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 anniversary of the day on which a person was born (or the celebration of it)
From this reading “"It's only grandma's birthday to-day!"”
move up and down repeatedly
From this reading “"Bob," she said, factitiously calm.”
that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading “Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.”
make calm or still
From this reading “"Bob," she said, factitiously calm.”
having or showing keen interest or intense desire or impatient expectancy
From this reading “Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.”
having brief brilliant points or flashes of light
From this reading “Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.”
possessive form of “grandma” — the mother of your father or mother
From this reading “"It's only grandma's birthday to-day!"”
not usual or common or ordinary
From this reading “Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.”
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.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
an anniversary of the day on which a person was born (or the celebration of it)
From this reading "It's only grandma's birthday to-day!"
move up and down repeatedly
From this reading "Bob," she said, factitiously calm.
that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
make calm or still
From this reading "Bob," she said, factitiously calm.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "You don't know what I've just remembered!"
having or showing keen interest or intense desire or impatient expectancy
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Bob," she said, factitiously calm.
having brief brilliant points or flashes of light
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
possessive form of “grandma” — the mother of your father or mother
From this reading "It's only grandma's birthday to-day!"
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Well?" said he.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "You don't know what I've just remembered!"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It's only grandma's birthday to-day!"
and nothing more
From this reading "You don't know what I've just remembered!"
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "You don't know what I've just remembered!"
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
and nothing more
From this reading "It's only grandma's birthday to-day!"
past form of “remember” — recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
From this reading "You don't know what I've just remembered!"
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Bob," she said, factitiously calm.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Bob," she said, factitiously calm.
past form of “show” — give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It's only grandma's birthday to-day!"
not usual or common or ordinary
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well?" said he.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "You don't know what I've just remembered!"
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Mrs Brindeley looked across the lunch-table at her husband with glinting, eager eyes, which showed that there was something unusual in the brain behind them.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You don't know what I've just remembered!"
Chapter 1 of The Matador of the Five Towns and Other by Arnold Bennett holds 419 sentences, grouped into 84 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 419 sentences of The Matador of the Five Towns and Other, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Matador of the Five Towns and Other by Arnold Bennett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 419 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 Matador of the Five Towns and Other by Arnold Bennett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7037 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12995 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12995, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 586 minutes of reading across 1408 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Matador of the Five Towns and Other section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The Matador of the Five Towns and Other 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 Matador of the Five Towns and Other, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
