Chapter 2 of The Precipice is here in full — 133 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Precipice is here in full — 133 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Boris came in on his aunt during the children’s breakfast. Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table. “Borushka, tiresome boy! You have not even written, but descend like a thunderclap. How you frightened me!”
Chapter 2 of The Precipice is here in full — 133 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/26 · 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.
eat an early morning meal
From this reading “Boris came in on his aunt during the children’s breakfast.”
inflected form of “clap” — put quickly or forcibly
From this reading “Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.”
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
From this reading “You have not even written, but descend like a thunderclap.”
made afraid
From this reading “How you frightened me!””
past form of “jump” — move forward by leaps and bounds
From this reading “Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.”
plural of “plate” — (baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score
From this reading “Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.”
disturbed psychologically as if by a physical jolt or shock
From this reading “Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.”
so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
From this reading ““Borushka, tiresome boy!”
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 have not even written, but descend like a thunderclap.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
the sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle
From this reading Boris came in on his aunt during the children’s breakfast.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Boris came in on his aunt during the children’s breakfast.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Borushka, tiresome boy!
a youthful male person
From this reading “Borushka, tiresome boy!
eat an early morning meal
From this reading Boris came in on his aunt during the children’s breakfast.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Boris came in on his aunt during the children’s breakfast.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Boris came in on his aunt during the children’s breakfast.
inflected form of “clap” — put quickly or forcibly
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
From this reading You have not even written, but descend like a thunderclap.
all through a period, or at some point within it
From this reading Boris came in on his aunt during the children’s breakfast.
divisible by two
From this reading You have not even written, but descend like a thunderclap.
made afraid
From this reading How you frightened me!”
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading You have not even written, but descend like a thunderclap.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Boris came in on his aunt during the children’s breakfast.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How you frightened me!”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Boris came in on his aunt during the children’s breakfast.
past form of “jump” — move forward by leaps and bounds
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading You have not even written, but descend like a thunderclap.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading How you frightened me!”
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading You have not even written, but descend like a thunderclap.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Boris came in on his aunt during the children’s breakfast.
plural of “plate” — (baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
disturbed psychologically as if by a physical jolt or shock
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Boris came in on his aunt during the children’s breakfast.
a single sharp crash of thunder
From this reading You have not even written, but descend like a thunderclap.
so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
From this reading “Borushka, tiresome boy!
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Tatiana Markovna clapped her hands and all but jumped from her chair; the plates were nearly shaken off the table.
set down in writing in any of various ways
From this reading You have not even written, but descend like a thunderclap.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You have not even written, but descend like a thunderclap.
Chapter 2 of The Precipice by Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov holds 133 sentences, grouped into 27 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 133 sentences of The Precipice, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Precipice by Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 133 sentences, grouped into 27 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 27 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 27 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.
Common questions about reading The Precipice by Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7157 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #7307 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #7307, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 596 minutes of reading across 1432 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Precipice section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 36 chapters of The Precipice 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 Precipice, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
