Chapter 9 of The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds is here in full — 94 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds is here in full — 94 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE VOICE IN THE SILENCE "Had your sleep out?" Grover shook his cousin. "It's almost eight and Aunt Ella has the bacon on." Roger rubbed his eyes, snapped awake. "Is it all right at the lab.?"
Chapter 9 of The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds is here in full — 94 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/18 · 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.
not in a state of sleep; completely conscious
From this reading “Roger rubbed his eyes, snapped awake.”
back and sides of a hog salted and dried or smoked; usually sliced thin and fried
From this reading “"It's almost eight and Aunt Ella has the bacon on."”
the child of your aunt or uncle
From this reading “Grover shook his cousin.”
being one more than seven
From this reading “"It's almost eight and Aunt Ella has the bacon on."”
a workplace for the conduct of scientific research
From this reading “"Is it all right at the lab.?"”
inflected form of “rub” — move over something with pressure
From this reading “Roger rubbed his eyes, snapped awake.”
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading “Grover shook his cousin.”
inflected form of “snap” — utter in an angry, sharp, or abrupt tone
From this reading “Roger rubbed his eyes, snapped awake.”
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.
(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 "Is it all right at the lab.?"
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading "It's almost eight and Aunt Ella has the bacon on."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "It's almost eight and Aunt Ella has the bacon on."
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading "Is it all right at the lab.?"
the sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle
From this reading "It's almost eight and Aunt Ella has the bacon on."
not in a state of sleep; completely conscious
From this reading Roger rubbed his eyes, snapped awake.
back and sides of a hog salted and dried or smoked; usually sliced thin and fried
From this reading "It's almost eight and Aunt Ella has the bacon on."
the child of your aunt or uncle
From this reading Grover shook his cousin.
being one more than seven
From this reading "It's almost eight and Aunt Ella has the bacon on."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It's almost eight and Aunt Ella has the bacon on."
opinion or judgment
From this reading Roger rubbed his eyes, snapped awake.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Grover shook his cousin.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading THE VOICE IN THE SILENCE "Had your sleep out?"
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "It's almost eight and Aunt Ella has the bacon on."
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Grover shook his cousin.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading THE VOICE IN THE SILENCE "Had your sleep out?"
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Is it all right at the lab.?"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "Is it all right at the lab.?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It's almost eight and Aunt Ella has the bacon on."
a workplace for the conduct of scientific research
From this reading "Is it all right at the lab.?"
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "It's almost eight and Aunt Ella has the bacon on."
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading THE VOICE IN THE SILENCE "Had your sleep out?"
precisely, exactly
From this reading "Is it all right at the lab.?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Roger rubbed his eyes, snapped awake.
inflected form of “rub” — move over something with pressure
From this reading Roger rubbed his eyes, snapped awake.
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading Grover shook his cousin.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading THE VOICE IN THE SILENCE "Had your sleep out?"
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading THE VOICE IN THE SILENCE "Had your sleep out?"
inflected form of “snap” — utter in an angry, sharp, or abrupt tone
From this reading Roger rubbed his eyes, snapped awake.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE VOICE IN THE SILENCE "Had your sleep out?"
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading THE VOICE IN THE SILENCE "Had your sleep out?"
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading THE VOICE IN THE SILENCE "Had your sleep out?"
Chapter 9 of The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds by Van Powell holds 94 sentences, grouped into 19 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 9 holds 94 sentences of The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds, unabridged, divided into 19 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds by Van Powell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 94 sentences, grouped into 19 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 19 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 19 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 9 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.
