Chapter IX of The Silent Alarm, “Beyond Forbidden Portals,” is here in full — 232 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter IX of The Silent Alarm, “Beyond Forbidden Portals,” is here in full — 232 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Uncle Billie, has the whipsawed house an attic?” Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day. “Sure enough! Now has it? I most forgit.”
Chapter IX of The Silent Alarm, “Beyond Forbidden Portals,” is here in full — 232 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/46 · 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.
floor consisting of open space at the top of a house just below roof; often used for storage
From this reading ““Uncle Billie, has the whipsawed house an attic?””
a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river)
From this reading “Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.”
with eagerness; in an eager manner
From this reading “Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.”
a city in central Italy on the Arno; provincial capital of Tuscany; center of the Italian Renaissance from 14th to 16th centuries
From this reading “Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.”
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading “Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.”
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading ““Uncle Billie, has the whipsawed house an attic?””
impressive by reason of age
From this reading “Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.”
past form of “whipsaw” — victimize, especially in gambling or negotiations
From this reading ““Uncle Billie, has the whipsawed house an attic?””
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 “Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.”
as supposed or expected
In this reading ““Sure enough!”
In this reading “Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.”
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.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading “Uncle Billie, has the whipsawed house an attic?”
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
floor consisting of open space at the top of a house just below roof; often used for storage
From this reading “Uncle Billie, has the whipsawed house an attic?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Uncle Billie, has the whipsawed house an attic?”
a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river)
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
with eagerness; in an eager manner
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading “Sure enough!
a city in central Italy on the Arno; provincial capital of Tuscany; center of the Italian Renaissance from 14th to 16th centuries
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I most forgit.”
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Uncle Billie, has the whipsawed house an attic?”
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading “Uncle Billie, has the whipsawed house an attic?”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I most forgit.”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Now has it?
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
used to form the superlative
From this reading I most forgit.”
immediately following in time or order
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now has it?
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured
From this reading “Sure enough!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “Uncle Billie, has the whipsawed house an attic?”
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading “Uncle Billie, has the whipsawed house an attic?”
impressive by reason of age
From this reading Florence asked the question eagerly as she met her venerable friend on the creek road next day.
past form of “whipsaw” — victimize, especially in gambling or negotiations
From this reading “Uncle Billie, has the whipsawed house an attic?”
Chapter 9 of The Silent Alarm by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell holds 232 sentences, grouped into 47 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 9 holds 232 sentences of The Silent Alarm, unabridged, divided into 47 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Silent Alarm by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 232 sentences, grouped into 47 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 47 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 47 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 9 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 Silent Alarm by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3281 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41772 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41772, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 273 minutes of reading across 657 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Silent Alarm section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of The Silent Alarm 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 Silent Alarm, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
