Chapter VI of The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds, “A Weird Story,” is here in full — 139 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter VI of The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds, “A Weird Story,” is here in full — 139 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes. "It simply could not be," he declared. "That film was taken from a brand new shipment, wasn't it?" "Yes," Roger asserted. "And there were no animals in the laboratory."
Chapter VI of The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds, “A Weird Story,” is here in full — 139 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
confidently declared to be so
From this reading “"Yes," Roger asserted.”
a name given to a product or service
From this reading “"That film was taken from a brand new shipment, wasn't it?"”
a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement
From this reading “When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.”
a workplace for the conduct of scientific research
From this reading “"And there were no animals in the laboratory."”
extending out above or beyond a surface or boundary
From this reading “When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.”
goods carried by a large vehicle
From this reading “"That film was taken from a brand new shipment, wasn't it?"”
a solemn statement made under oath
From this reading “When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.”
suggesting the operation of supernatural influences
From this reading “When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.”
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.
In this reading “When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.”
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 "That film was taken from a brand new shipment, wasn't it?"
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "And there were no animals in the laboratory."
plural of “animal” — a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading "And there were no animals in the laboratory."
confidently declared to be so
From this reading "Yes," Roger asserted.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "It simply could not be," he declared.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
a name given to a product or service
From this reading "That film was taken from a brand new shipment, wasn't it?"
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading "It simply could not be," he declared.
made known or openly avowed
From this reading "It simply could not be," he declared.
opinion or judgment
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading "That film was taken from a brand new shipment, wasn't it?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "It simply could not be," he declared.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "And there were no animals in the laboratory."
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "It simply could not be," he declared.
a workplace for the conduct of scientific research
From this reading "And there were no animals in the laboratory."
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading "That film was taken from a brand new shipment, wasn't it?"
not any; not one
From this reading "And there were no animals in the laboratory."
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "It simply could not be," he declared.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
extending out above or beyond a surface or boundary
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Yes," Roger asserted.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
goods carried by a large vehicle
From this reading "That film was taken from a brand new shipment, wasn't it?"
and nothing more
From this reading "It simply could not be," he declared.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading "That film was taken from a brand new shipment, wasn't it?"
a solemn statement made under oath
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
in or at that place or location
From this reading "And there were no animals in the laboratory."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
suggesting the operation of supernatural influences
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
not disposed or inclined toward
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "That film was taken from a brand new shipment, wasn't it?"
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "And there were no animals in the laboratory."
at the time that
From this reading When that uncanny film was projected before him Grover seemed unwilling to believe the testimony of his eyes.
an affirmative
From this reading "Yes," Roger asserted.
Chapter 6 of The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds by Van Powell holds 139 sentences, grouped into 28 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 6 holds 139 sentences of The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds by Van Powell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 139 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 6 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 Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds by Van Powell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3942 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #53214 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #53214, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 328 minutes of reading across 789 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds 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 Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
