Chapter 2 of The Oxford Circus is here in full — 119 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Oxford Circus is here in full — 119 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
INTROIT “But I _must_ have a hansom!” Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous. From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts. “Taxi, sir?” “’ere y’are, sir.
Chapter 2 of The Oxford Circus is here in full — 119 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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.
elegance by virtue of fineness of manner and expression
From this reading “Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.”
a two-wheeled horse-drawn covered carriage with the driver's seat above and behind the passengers
From this reading “INTROIT “But I _must_ have a hansom!””
deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion
From this reading “From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.”
repetitive and persistent
From this reading “From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.”
plural of “porter” — a person employed to carry luggage and supplies
From this reading “From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.”
habitually complaining
From this reading “Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.”
-ing form of “scuffle” — walk by dragging one's feet
From this reading “From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.”
travel slowly
From this reading ““Taxi, sir?””
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.
terminal where trains load or unload passengers or goods
In this reading “From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.”
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 INTROIT “But I _must_ have a hansom!”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
react verbally
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
the supreme effort one can make
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
elegance by virtue of fineness of manner and expression
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading INTROIT “But I _must_ have a hansom!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
plural of “century” — a period of 100 years
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
plural of “cry” — a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
overfilled or compacted or concentrated
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
an old word for “before”
From this reading “’ere y’are, sir.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
a two-wheeled horse-drawn covered carriage with the driver's seat above and behind the passengers
From this reading INTROIT “But I _must_ have a hansom!”
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading INTROIT “But I _must_ have a hansom!”
deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading INTROIT “But I _must_ have a hansom!”
expressing persistant and earnest entreaty
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
repetitive and persistent
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
a composition of vocal music that is appropriate for opening church services
From this reading INTROIT “But I _must_ have a hansom!”
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading INTROIT “But I _must_ have a hansom!”
not any; not one
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
a city in southern England to the northwest of London; site of Oxford University
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
by chance
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
plural of “porter” — a person employed to carry luggage and supplies
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
habitually complaining
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
except for; apart from
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
-ing form of “scuffle” — walk by dragging one's feet
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
term of address for a man
From this reading “Taxi, sir?”
a facility equipped with special equipment and personnel for a particular purpose
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
travel slowly
From this reading “Taxi, sir?”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
the quality of a person's voice
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
a cold pudding made of layers of sponge cake spread with fruit or jelly; may be decorated with nuts, cream, or chocolate
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Behind the voice there were centuries of the best breeding, but the tone was perhaps a trifle querulous.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “’ere y’are, sir.
a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading From the crowded yard of the Oxford railway station there came no answer save the hoarse, insistent cries of porters and the importunate scuffling of cab-touts.
Chapter 2 of The Oxford Circus by Hamish Miles holds 119 sentences, grouped into 24 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 2 holds 119 sentences of The Oxford Circus, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Oxford Circus by Hamish Miles exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 119 sentences, grouped into 24 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 24 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 24 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 2 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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Yes. All 1959 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50358 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50358, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 163 minutes of reading across 392 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Oxford Circus section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of The Oxford Circus 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 Oxford Circus, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
