Chapter 18 of The Pit-Prop Syndicate is here in full — 320 sentences across 64 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of The Pit-Prop Syndicate is here in full — 320 sentences across 64 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris. The Frenchman greeted him politely, but without enthusiasm. “Ah, monsieur,” he said, “you have not received my letter? No? I wrote to your department yesterday.”
Chapter 18 of The Pit-Prop Syndicate is here in full — 320 sentences across 64 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/64 · 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 port city in southwestern France; a major center of the wine trade
From this reading “THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.”
remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line
From this reading “THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.”
a person of French nationality
From this reading “The Frenchman greeted him politely, but without enthusiasm.”
a high ranking police officer
From this reading “THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.”
plural of “lorry” — a large low horse-drawn wagon without sides
From this reading “THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.”
street names for gamma hydroxybutyrate
From this reading “THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.”
in a polite manner
From this reading “The Frenchman greeted him politely, but without enthusiasm.”
English physician who was a pioneer in the study of the brain (1621-1675)
From this reading “THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.”
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.
anew
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Ah, monsieur,” he said, “you have not received my letter?
a port city in southwestern France; a major center of the wine trade
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The Frenchman greeted him politely, but without enthusiasm.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
a specialized division of a large organization
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
a feeling of excitement
From this reading The Frenchman greeted him politely, but without enthusiasm.
remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
a person of French nationality
From this reading The Frenchman greeted him politely, but without enthusiasm.
past form of “greet” — express greetings upon meeting someone
From this reading The Frenchman greeted him politely, but without enthusiasm.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “Ah, monsieur,” he said, “you have not received my letter?
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Ah, monsieur,” he said, “you have not received my letter?
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The Frenchman greeted him politely, but without enthusiasm.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I wrote to your department yesterday.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
a high ranking police officer
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading “Ah, monsieur,” he said, “you have not received my letter?
plural of “lorry” — a large low horse-drawn wagon without sides
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards)
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
street names for gamma hydroxybutyrate
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
used as a French courtesy title; equivalent to English “Mr”
From this reading “Ah, monsieur,” he said, “you have not received my letter?
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “Ah, monsieur,” he said, “you have not received my letter?
not any; not one
From this reading No?
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading “Ah, monsieur,” he said, “you have not received my letter?
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
place of business where professional or clerical duties are performed
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
on one occasion
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
the capital and largest city of France; and international center of culture and commerce
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
in a polite manner
From this reading The Frenchman greeted him politely, but without enthusiasm.
conforming to the established language usage of educated native speakers
From this reading “Ah, monsieur,” he said, “you have not received my letter?
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Ah, monsieur,” he said, “you have not received my letter?
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I wrote to your department yesterday.”
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
English physician who was a pioneer in the study of the brain (1621-1675)
From this reading THE BORDEAUX LORRIES Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the head of the French Excise Department in Paris.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading The Frenchman greeted him politely, but without enthusiasm.
inflected form of “write” — produce a literary work
From this reading I wrote to your department yesterday.”
the day immediately before today
From this reading I wrote to your department yesterday.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Ah, monsieur,” he said, “you have not received my letter?
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I wrote to your department yesterday.”
Chapter 18 of The Pit-Prop Syndicate by Freeman Wills Crofts holds 320 sentences, grouped into 64 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 18 holds 320 sentences of The Pit-Prop Syndicate, unabridged, divided into 64 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of The Pit-Prop Syndicate by Freeman Wills Crofts exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 320 sentences, grouped into 64 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 64 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 64 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 18 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-Prop Syndicate by Freeman Wills Crofts on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5911 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2013 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2013, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 492 minutes of reading across 1183 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Pit-Prop Syndicate section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Pit-Prop Syndicate 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-Prop Syndicate, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
