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.
The fellow is an absolute outsider, anyone can see that. He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers! But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?” I nodded. “Well, of course the war has turned the hundreds into thousands.
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 9/71 · 5 reading units · Lines 41–45
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.
past form of “cotton” — take a liking to
From this reading “But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?””
an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning
From this reading “He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!”
an informal use of the Latin word for mother; sometimes used by British schoolboys or used facetiously
From this reading “But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?””
A person who does not belong to a particular group or community; a stranger.
From this reading “The fellow is an absolute outsider, anyone can see that.”
obtain a patent for
From this reading “He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!”
plural of “society” — an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization
From this reading “But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?””
plural of “wear” — impairment resulting from long use
From this reading “He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!”
plural of “weather” — the atmospheric conditions that comprise the state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation
From this reading “He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!”
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 He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
perfect or complete or pure
From this reading The fellow is an absolute outsider, anyone can see that.
(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 He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading The fellow is an absolute outsider, anyone can see that.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
any person at all
From this reading The fellow is an absolute outsider, anyone can see that.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face
From this reading He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
plural of “boot” — footwear that covers the whole foot and lower leg
From this reading He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading The fellow is an absolute outsider, anyone can see that.
past form of “cotton” — take a liking to
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings
From this reading “Well, of course the war has turned the hundreds into thousands.
a boy or man
From this reading The fellow is an absolute outsider, anyone can see that.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Well, of course the war has turned the hundreds into thousands.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
ten 10s
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
plural of “hundred” — ten 10s
From this reading “Well, of course the war has turned the hundreds into thousands.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I nodded.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
moving to the inside of something
From this reading “Well, of course the war has turned the hundreds into thousands.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The fellow is an absolute outsider, anyone can see that.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning
From this reading He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
an informal use of the Latin word for mother; sometimes used by British schoolboys or used facetiously
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading I nodded.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “Well, of course the war has turned the hundreds into thousands.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
on one occasion
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
A person who does not belong to a particular group or community; a stranger.
From this reading The fellow is an absolute outsider, anyone can see that.
obtain a patent for
From this reading He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
(of fluids) moving or issuing in a stream
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
a person who is head of an administrative department of government
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading The fellow is an absolute outsider, anyone can see that.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
plural of “society” — an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The fellow is an absolute outsider, anyone can see that.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The fellow is an absolute outsider, anyone can see that.
plural of “thousand” — the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100
From this reading “Well, of course the war has turned the hundreds into thousands.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
moved around an axis or center
From this reading “Well, of course the war has turned the hundreds into thousands.
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading “Well, of course the war has turned the hundreds into thousands.
plural of “wear” — impairment resulting from long use
From this reading He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
plural of “weather” — the atmospheric conditions that comprise the state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation
From this reading He’s got a great black beard, and wears patent leather boots in all weathers!
(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, of course the war has turned the hundreds into thousands.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading But the mater cottoned to him at once, took him on as secretary—you know how she’s always running a hundred societies?”
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.
