Chapter 20 of The pit is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The pit is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Move on now, clear the stairway. No seats left!" But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air. She even hazarded a little deception: "I have a pass.
Chapter 20 of The pit is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
one of a set of small pieces of stiff paper marked in various ways and used for playing games or for telling fortunes
From this reading “But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.”
a misleading falsehood
From this reading “She even hazarded a little deception:”
release from entanglement of difficulty
From this reading “But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.”
past form of “manage” — be successful; achieve a goal
From this reading “But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.”
exert pressure or force to or upon
From this reading “But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.”
move hurridly
From this reading “But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.”
an area that includes places where several people can sit
From this reading “No seats left!"”
a way of access (upward and downward) consisting of a set of steps
From this reading “"Move on now, clear the stairway.”
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 She even hazarded a little deception:
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
one of a set of small pieces of stiff paper marked in various ways and used for playing games or for telling fortunes
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
inflected form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
rid of obstructions
From this reading "Move on now, clear the stairway.
cause to herd, drive, or crowd together
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
a misleading falsehood
From this reading She even hazarded a little deception:
divisible by two
From this reading She even hazarded a little deception:
release from entanglement of difficulty
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "I have a pass.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She even hazarded a little deception:
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I have a pass.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading No seats left!"
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading She even hazarded a little deception:
past form of “manage” — be successful; achieve a goal
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading "Move on now, clear the stairway.
not any; not one
From this reading No seats left!"
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading "Move on now, clear the stairway.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "Move on now, clear the stairway.
one side of one leaf (of a book or magazine or newspaper or letter etc.) or the written or pictorial matter it contains
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
go across or through
From this reading "I have a pass.
exert pressure or force to or upon
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
move hurridly
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
an area that includes places where several people can sit
From this reading No seats left!"
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She even hazarded a little deception:
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
a way of access (upward and downward) consisting of a set of steps
From this reading "Move on now, clear the stairway.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Move on now, clear the stairway.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
the upper part of anything
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
which person or people
From this reading But at this Page, who, by the rush of the crowd had been carried almost to the top of the stairs, managed to extricate an arm from the press, and hold Landry's card in the air.
Chapter 20 of The pit by Frank Norris holds 424 sentences, grouped into 85 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 20 holds 424 sentences of The pit, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The pit by Frank Norris exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 424 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 20 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 pit by Frank Norris on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8642 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4382 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4382, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1729 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The pit section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 21 chapters of The pit 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 pit, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
