Chapter 5 of The 'Phone Booth Mystery is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The 'Phone Booth Mystery is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
RETURNED! “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?” “Absolutely.” “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.” “No copy has been made,” Sir Robert answered.
Chapter 5 of The 'Phone Booth Mystery is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/39 · 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.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading ““Absolutely.””
any person at all
From this reading ““And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.””
a reproduction of a written record (e.g. of a legal or school record)
From this reading ““No copy has been made,” Sir Robert answered.”
make or do or perform again
From this reading ““And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.””
metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
From this reading ““You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?””
plural of “key” — metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
From this reading ““And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.””
past form of “obtain” — come into possession of
From this reading ““And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.””
third-person singular of “possess” — have as an attribute, knowledge, or skill
From this reading ““You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?””
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.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “Absolutely.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
past form of “answer” — react verbally
From this reading “No copy has been made,” Sir Robert answered.
any person at all
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
the past participle of “be”
From this reading “No copy has been made,” Sir Robert answered.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
definite but not specified or identified
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
a reproduction of a written record (e.g. of a legal or school record)
From this reading “No copy has been made,” Sir Robert answered.
make or do or perform again
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
one or the other of two
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “No copy has been made,” Sir Robert answered.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
plural of “key” — metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
a form of address for a man
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
not any; not one
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
past form of “obtain” — come into possession of
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
third-person singular of “possess” — have as an attribute, knowledge, or skill
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
past form of “return” — go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading RETURNED!
United States parliamentary authority and author (in 1876) of Robert's Rules of Order (1837-1923)
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
free from danger or the risk of harm
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
term of address for a man
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading “And you think it impossible that anyone may have obtained either of the keys and had a duplicate made.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
used when the person spoken to is also the object of the action
From this reading “You are certain no one but yourself and Mr. Carling possesses a key to the safe, Sir Robert?”
Chapter 5 of The 'Phone Booth Mystery by John Ironside holds 197 sentences, grouped into 40 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 5 holds 197 sentences of The 'Phone Booth Mystery, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The 'Phone Booth Mystery by John Ironside exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 197 sentences, grouped into 40 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 40 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 40 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 5 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 'Phone Booth Mystery by John Ironside on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4264 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #65811 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #65811, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 355 minutes of reading across 853 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The 'Phone Booth Mystery section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of The 'Phone Booth Mystery 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 'Phone Booth Mystery, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
