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 poor Emily. They’re a lot of sharks—all of them. Oh, I know what I’m talking about. There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her. I’ve protected her as much as I could.
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 60/71 · 5 reading units · Lines 296–300
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.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading “There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.”
(often followed by “of”) a large number or amount or extent
From this reading “They’re a lot of sharks—all of them.”
the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
From this reading “There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.”
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading “My poor Emily.”
kept safe or defended from danger or injury or loss
From this reading “I’ve protected her as much as I could.”
plural of “shark” — any of numerous elongate mostly marine carnivorous fishes with heterocercal caudal fins and tough skin covered with small toothlike scales
From this reading “They’re a lot of sharks—all of them.”
an exchange of ideas via conversation
From this reading “Oh, I know what I’m talking about.”
hard to endure
From this reading “There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.”
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 They’re a lot of sharks—all of them.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Oh, I know what I’m talking about.
(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 They’re a lot of sharks—all of them.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading I’ve protected her as much as I could.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading I’ve protected her as much as I could.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading My poor Emily.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Oh, I know what I’m talking about.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Oh, I know what I’m talking about.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I’ve protected her as much as I could.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Oh, I know what I’m talking about.
(often followed by “of”) a large number or amount or extent
From this reading They’re a lot of sharks—all of them.
the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading I’ve protected her as much as I could.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My poor Emily.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading They’re a lot of sharks—all of them.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading Oh, I know what I’m talking about.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading My poor Emily.
kept safe or defended from danger or injury or loss
From this reading I’ve protected her as much as I could.
plural of “shark” — any of numerous elongate mostly marine carnivorous fishes with heterocercal caudal fins and tough skin covered with small toothlike scales
From this reading They’re a lot of sharks—all of them.
an exchange of ideas via conversation
From this reading Oh, I know what I’m talking about.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading They’re a lot of sharks—all of them.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They’re a lot of sharks—all of them.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
hard to endure
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Oh, I know what I’m talking about.
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.
