Chapter 1 of The Mysterious Affair at Styles is here in full — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Mysterious Affair at Styles is here in full — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
My wife works regularly ‘on the land’. She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime. It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!” He checked the car suddenly, and glanced at his watch. “I wonder if we’ve time to pick up Cynthia.
Chapter 1 of The Mysterious Affair at Styles is here in full — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 14/71 · 5 reading units · Lines 66–70
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.
king of Wessex; defeated the Vikings and encouraged writing in English (849-899)
From this reading “It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!””
patterned with alternating squares of color
From this reading “He checked the car suddenly, and glanced at his watch.”
(Greek mythology) the virgin goddess of the hunt and the Moon; daughter of Leto and twin sister of Apollo; identified with Roman Diana
From this reading ““I wonder if we’ve time to pick up Cynthia.”
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading “It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!””
plural of “keep” — the financial means whereby one lives
From this reading “She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.”
the customary or habitual hour for eating lunch
From this reading “She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.”
a white nutritious liquid secreted by mammals and used as food by human beings
From this reading “She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.”
in a regular manner
From this reading “My wife works regularly ‘on the land’.”
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 It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
king of Wessex; defeated the Vikings and encouraged writing in English (849-899)
From this reading It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
(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 It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading He checked the car suddenly, and glanced at his watch.
patterned with alternating squares of color
From this reading He checked the car suddenly, and glanced at his watch.
(Greek mythology) the virgin goddess of the hunt and the Moon; daughter of Leto and twin sister of Apollo; identified with Roman Diana
From this reading “I wonder if we’ve time to pick up Cynthia.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
a boy or man
From this reading It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
past form of “glance” — throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading He checked the car suddenly, and glanced at his watch.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He checked the car suddenly, and glanced at his watch.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He checked the car suddenly, and glanced at his watch.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I wonder if we’ve time to pick up Cynthia.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
plural of “keep” — the financial means whereby one lives
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
the land on which real estate is located
From this reading My wife works regularly ‘on the land’.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
the customary or habitual hour for eating lunch
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
a white nutritious liquid secreted by mammals and used as food by human beings
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My wife works regularly ‘on the land’.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading My wife works regularly ‘on the land’.
select carefully from a group
From this reading “I wonder if we’ve time to pick up Cynthia.
in a regular manner
From this reading My wife works regularly ‘on the land’.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
at a steady rate or pace
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading He checked the car suddenly, and glanced at his watch.
the act of someone who picks up or takes something
From this reading It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading My wife works regularly ‘on the land’.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading “I wonder if we’ve time to pick up Cynthia.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
up to a particular time
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading She is up at five every morning to milk, and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime.
look attentively
From this reading He checked the car suddenly, and glanced at his watch.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I wonder if we’ve time to pick up Cynthia.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It’s a jolly good life taking it all round—if it weren’t for that fellow Alfred Inglethorp!”
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading My wife works regularly ‘on the land’.
the feeling aroused by something strange and surprising
From this reading “I wonder if we’ve time to pick up Cynthia.
buildings for carrying on industrial labor
From this reading My wife works regularly ‘on the land’.
Chapter 1 of The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie holds 355 sentences, grouped into 71 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 355 sentences of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, unabridged, divided into 71 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 355 sentences, grouped into 71 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 71 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 71 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 Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5287 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #863 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #863, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 440 minutes of reading across 1058 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Mysterious Affair at Styles section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of The Mysterious Affair at Styles 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 Mysterious Affair at Styles, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
