Chapter 4 of The Middle of the Road: A Novel is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Middle of the Road: A Novel is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“That’s all for the present,” said Susan. She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands. “Bertram! You and I were always pals. You’ve helped me out of many a scrape, and never said a word.
Chapter 4 of The Middle of the Road: A Novel is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading “She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.”
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading “She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.”
past form of “clasp” — hold firmly and tightly
From this reading “She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.”
become hard or harder
From this reading “She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.”
past form of “help” — give help or assistance; be of service
From this reading “You’ve helped me out of many a scrape, and never said a word.”
plural of “pal” — a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities
From this reading “You and I were always pals.”
scratch repeatedly
From this reading “You’ve helped me out of many a scrape, and never said a word.”
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading “She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.”
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.
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 She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading “That’s all for the present,” said Susan.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading You and I were always pals.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Bertram!
the two together, not just one
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
past form of “clasp” — hold firmly and tightly
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading “That’s all for the present,” said Susan.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
become hard or harder
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
past form of “help” — give help or assistance; be of service
From this reading You’ve helped me out of many a scrape, and never said a word.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading You and I were always pals.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading You’ve helped me out of many a scrape, and never said a word.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading You’ve helped me out of many a scrape, and never said a word.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading You’ve helped me out of many a scrape, and never said a word.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading You’ve helped me out of many a scrape, and never said a word.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading You’ve helped me out of many a scrape, and never said a word.
plural of “pal” — a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities
From this reading You and I were always pals.
give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading “That’s all for the present,” said Susan.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “That’s all for the present,” said Susan.
cut with a saw
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
scratch repeatedly
From this reading You’ve helped me out of many a scrape, and never said a word.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “That’s all for the present,” said Susan.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “That’s all for the present,” said Susan.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “That’s all for the present,” said Susan.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading You and I were always pals.
in the company of; together with
From this reading She watched her brother anxiously, saw his face harden a little, and then went to him and clasped his arm with both hands.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading You’ve helped me out of many a scrape, and never said a word.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You and I were always pals.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You’ve helped me out of many a scrape, and never said a word.
Chapter 4 of The Middle of the Road: A Novel by Philip Gibbs holds 410 sentences, grouped into 82 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 4 holds 410 sentences of The Middle of the Road: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Middle of the Road: A Novel by Philip Gibbs exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 410 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 4 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 Middle of the Road: A Novel by Philip Gibbs on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9816 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #59960 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #59960, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1964 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Middle of the Road: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Middle of the Road: 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 Middle of the Road: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
