Chapter 7 of The Railway Children is here in full — 291 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of The Railway Children is here in full — 291 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta. The fact is I am growing very fond of her. The more I observe her the more I love her. And I notice all sorts of things about her that I like. For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.
Chapter 7 of The Railway Children is here in full — 291 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/58 · 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.
having or displaying warmth or affection
From this reading “The fact is I am growing very fond of her.”
(biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
From this reading “The fact is I am growing very fond of her.”
an occurrence of something
From this reading “For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.”
an announcement containing information about an event
From this reading “And I notice all sorts of things about her that I like.”
discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
From this reading “The more I observe her the more I love her.”
in a manner differing from the usual or expected
From this reading “For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.”
plural of “sort” — a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading “And I notice all sorts of things about her that I like.”
disclosing unintentionally something concealed
From this reading “I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta.”
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 I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta.
(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 And I notice all sorts of things about her that I like.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading The fact is I am growing very fond of her.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And I notice all sorts of things about her that I like.
eagerly desirous
From this reading For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.
act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression
From this reading I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta.
a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred
From this reading The fact is I am growing very fond of her.
having or displaying warmth or affection
From this reading The fact is I am growing very fond of her.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta.
(biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
From this reading The fact is I am growing very fond of her.
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The fact is I am growing very fond of her.
a specific instance of feeling hopeful
From this reading I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta.
an occurrence of something
From this reading For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The fact is I am growing very fond of her.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading And I notice all sorts of things about her that I like.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading The more I observe her the more I love her.
engage in
From this reading For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading The more I observe her the more I love her.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta.
an announcement containing information about an event
From this reading And I notice all sorts of things about her that I like.
discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
From this reading The more I observe her the more I love her.
in a manner differing from the usual or expected
From this reading For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The fact is I am growing very fond of her.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.
plural of “sort” — a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading And I notice all sorts of things about her that I like.
disclosing unintentionally something concealed
From this reading I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading And I notice all sorts of things about her that I like.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The fact is I am growing very fond of her.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading And I notice all sorts of things about her that I like.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.
precisely as stated
From this reading The fact is I am growing very fond of her.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading For instance, she was quite oddly anxious to make other people happy.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I hope you don't mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta.
Chapter 7 of The Railway Children by E. (Edith) Nesbit holds 291 sentences, grouped into 59 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 7 holds 291 sentences of The Railway Children, unabridged, divided into 59 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of The Railway Children by E. (Edith) Nesbit exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 291 sentences, grouped into 59 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 59 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 59 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 7 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 Railway Children by E. (Edith) Nesbit on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4195 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1874 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1874, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 349 minutes of reading across 839 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Railway Children section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of The Railway Children 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 Railway Children, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
