Chapter 4 of The Nowadays Girls in the Adirondacks is here in full — 153 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Nowadays Girls in the Adirondacks is here in full — 153 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before. Sylvia read the telegram again. "Any answer, Miss Pursell?" asked the butler. "I told the boy to wait." "No, James.
Chapter 4 of The Nowadays Girls in the Adirondacks is here in full — 153 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/30 · 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.
a manservant (usually the head servant of a household) who has charge of wines and the table
From this reading “"Any answer, Miss Pursell?" asked the butler.”
having dropped by the force of gravity
From this reading “PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.”
a power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc
From this reading “PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.”
a Stuart king of Scotland who married a daughter of Henry VII; when England and France went to war in 1513 he invaded England and died in defeat at Flodden (1473-1513)
From this reading “"No, James.”
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading “PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.”
of momentous or ominous significance
From this reading “PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.”
plural of “preparation” — the activity of putting or setting in order in advance of some act or purpose
From this reading “PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.”
a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading “Sylvia read the telegram again.”
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 “Sylvia read the telegram again.”
In this reading “PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.”
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 PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
anew
From this reading Sylvia read the telegram again.
react verbally
From this reading "Any answer, Miss Pursell?" asked the butler.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading "Any answer, Miss Pursell?" asked the butler.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading "Any answer, Miss Pursell?" asked the butler.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
a youthful male person
From this reading "I told the boy to wait."
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
a manservant (usually the head servant of a household) who has charge of wines and the table
From this reading "Any answer, Miss Pursell?" asked the butler.
having dropped by the force of gravity
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
plural of “girl” — a young female
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I told the boy to wait."
a power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
a Stuart king of Scotland who married a daughter of Henry VII; when England and France went to war in 1513 he invaded England and died in defeat at Flodden (1473-1513)
From this reading "No, James.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
the act that results in something coming to be
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading "Any answer, Miss Pursell?" asked the butler.
a particular point in time
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
not any; not one
From this reading "No, James.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
above and across; more than
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
an organization to gain political power
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
of momentous or ominous significance
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
plural of “preparation” — the activity of putting or setting in order in advance of some act or purpose
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Any answer, Miss Pursell?" asked the butler.
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading Sylvia read the telegram again.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sylvia read the telegram again.
a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading Sylvia read the telegram again.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading PREPARATIONS Something like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading "I told the boy to wait."
stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading "I told the boy to wait."
Chapter 4 of The Nowadays Girls in the Adirondacks by Gertrude Hall Brownell holds 153 sentences, grouped into 31 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 4 holds 153 sentences of The Nowadays Girls in the Adirondacks, unabridged, divided into 31 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Nowadays Girls in the Adirondacks by Gertrude Hall Brownell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 153 sentences, grouped into 31 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 31 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 31 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 4 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.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in The Nowadays Girls in the Adirondacks, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
