Chapter 1 of The spoil'd child is here in full — 304 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The spoil'd child is here in full — 304 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
AS PERFORMED AT THE Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK. W. POWELL, Prompter. N. B. Whoever vends spurious Copies will be prosecuted. 1805.
Chapter 1 of The spoil'd child is here in full — 304 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/60 · 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.
conforming to fact and therefore worthy of belief
From this reading “THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.”
plural of “copy” — a reproduction of a written record (e.g. of a legal or school record)
From this reading “N. B. Whoever vends spurious Copies will be prosecuted.”
the form in which a text (especially a printed book) is published
From this reading “THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.”
past form of “perform” — carry out or perform an action
From this reading “AS PERFORMED AT THE Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.”
United States general who was the first African American to serve as chief of staff; later served as Secretary of State under President George W. Bush (born 1937)
From this reading “W. POWELL, Prompter.”
past form of “prosecute” — conduct a prosecution in a court of law
From this reading “N. B. Whoever vends spurious Copies will be prosecuted.”
ostensibly valid, but not actually valid
From this reading “N. B. Whoever vends spurious Copies will be prosecuted.”
restricted to something
From this reading “THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.”
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 “AS PERFORMED AT THE Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 1805.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading AS PERFORMED AT THE Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading AS PERFORMED AT THE Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
conforming to fact and therefore worthy of belief
From this reading THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.
aerobic rod-shaped spore-producing bacterium; often occurring in chainlike formations; found primarily in soil
From this reading N. B. Whoever vends spurious Copies will be prosecuted.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading N. B. Whoever vends spurious Copies will be prosecuted.
a written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together)
From this reading THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.
quick to comply
From this reading THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.
plural of “copy” — a reproduction of a written record (e.g. of a legal or school record)
From this reading N. B. Whoever vends spurious Copies will be prosecuted.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading AS PERFORMED AT THE Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
the form in which a text (especially a printed book) is published
From this reading THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.
a narrow way or road
From this reading AS PERFORMED AT THE Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
a common nonmetallic element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless inert diatomic gas; constitutes 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume; a constituent of all living tissues
From this reading N. B. Whoever vends spurious Copies will be prosecuted.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.
past form of “perform” — carry out or perform an action
From this reading AS PERFORMED AT THE Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
United States general who was the first African American to serve as chief of staff; later served as Secretary of State under President George W. Bush (born 1937)
From this reading W. POWELL, Prompter.
someone who assists a performer by providing the next words of a forgotten speech
From this reading W. POWELL, Prompter.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.
past form of “prosecute” — conduct a prosecution in a court of law
From this reading N. B. Whoever vends spurious Copies will be prosecuted.
prepared and printed for distribution and sale
From this reading THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.
of or relating to or indicative of or issued or performed by a king or queen or other monarch
From this reading AS PERFORMED AT THE Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
ostensibly valid, but not actually valid
From this reading N. B. Whoever vends spurious Copies will be prosecuted.
restricted to something
From this reading THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading AS PERFORMED AT THE Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented
From this reading AS PERFORMED AT THE Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading THIS AUTHENTIC EDITION, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, IS STRICTLY CONFORMABLE TO THE PROMPTER’S BOOK.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading N. B. Whoever vends spurious Copies will be prosecuted.
a heavy grey-white metallic element; the pure form is used mainly in electrical applications; it is found in several ores including wolframite and scheelite
From this reading W. POWELL, Prompter.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading N. B. Whoever vends spurious Copies will be prosecuted.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading N. B. Whoever vends spurious Copies will be prosecuted.
Chapter 1 of The spoil'd child by Isaac Bickerstaff holds 304 sentences, grouped into 61 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 1 holds 304 sentences of The spoil'd child, unabridged, divided into 61 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The spoil'd child by Isaac Bickerstaff exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 304 sentences, grouped into 61 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 61 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 61 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 1 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The spoil'd child section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The spoil'd child 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 spoil'd child, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
