Chapter 4 of The seven stairs is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The seven stairs is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music. But he had already heard of Dr. Blitzsten. “Isn’t that the analyst?” he said. “My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.” So off we went.
Chapter 4 of The seven stairs is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
someone who is skilled at analyzing data
From this reading ““Isn’t that the analyst?” he said.”
a room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter
From this reading “I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.”
capital and largest city of Hungary; located on the Danube River in north-central Hungary
From this reading ““My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.””
feelings of ardent love
From this reading “I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.”
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading “I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.”
any of numerous short-stemmed plants of the genus Primula having tufted basal leaves and showy flowers clustered in umbels or heads
From this reading “I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.”
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
From this reading ““My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.””
a practice session in preparation for a public performance (as of a play or speech or concert)
From this reading ““My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.””
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.
In this reading ““My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.””
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 told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
prior to a specified or implied time
From this reading But he had already heard of Dr. Blitzsten.
someone who is skilled at analyzing data
From this reading “Isn’t that the analyst?” he said.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
a room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But he had already heard of Dr. Blitzsten.
capital and largest city of Hungary; located on the Danube River in north-central Hungary
From this reading “My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.”
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But he had already heard of Dr. Blitzsten.
feelings of ardent love
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But he had already heard of Dr. Blitzsten.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading “My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.”
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading “My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.”
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading But he had already heard of Dr. Blitzsten.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading But he had already heard of Dr. Blitzsten.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading “My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.”
where you live at a particular time
From this reading “My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Isn’t that the analyst?” he said.
a form of address for a man
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading But he had already heard of Dr. Blitzsten.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading So off we went.
many times at short intervals
From this reading “My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.”
any of numerous short-stemmed plants of the genus Primula having tufted basal leaves and showy flowers clustered in umbels or heads
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
From this reading “My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.”
a practice session in preparation for a public performance (as of a play or speech or concert)
From this reading “My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Isn’t that the analyst?” he said.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So off we went.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “Isn’t that the analyst?” he said.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
employed in accomplishing something
From this reading “My friends in the Budapest Quartet often used his home for rehearsal.”
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading So off we went.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading So off we went.
extraordinarily good or great; used especially as intensifiers
From this reading I told Mr. Primrose that my friend had a wonderful bar and a devotion to great music.
Chapter 4 of The seven stairs by Stuart Brent holds 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 4 holds 414 sentences of The seven stairs, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The seven stairs by Stuart Brent exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 4 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 seven stairs by Stuart Brent on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3379 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #69175 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #69175, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 281 minutes of reading across 676 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The seven stairs section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The seven stairs 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 seven stairs, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
