Chapter 7 of The Story of a Doctor's Telephone—Told by His Wife is here in full — 435 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of The Story of a Doctor's Telephone—Told by His Wife is here in full — 435 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence. The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office. Pretty soon it rings and she goes to answer it. "Hello?" Silence.
Chapter 7 of The Story of a Doctor's Telephone—Told by His Wife is here in full — 435 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/87 · 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.
third-person singular of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.”
(of a surface) not written or printed on
From this reading “One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.”
depriving of confidence or hope or enthusiasm and hence often deterring action
From this reading “One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.”
past form of “encounter” — come together
From this reading “One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.”
an expression of greeting
From this reading “"Hello?"”
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading “The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.”
gymnastic apparatus consisting of a pair of heavy metal circles (usually covered with leather) suspended by ropes; used for gymnastic exercises
From this reading “Pretty soon it rings and she goes to answer it.”
electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds
From this reading “The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.”
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.
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 One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
react verbally
From this reading Pretty soon it rings and she goes to answer it.
third-person singular of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
(of a surface) not written or printed on
From this reading One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
depriving of confidence or hope or enthusiasm and hence often deterring action
From this reading One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
a licensed medical practitioner
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
past form of “encounter” — come together
From this reading One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
plural of “go” — a time period for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else)
From this reading Pretty soon it rings and she goes to answer it.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
an expression of greeting
From this reading "Hello?"
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Pretty soon it rings and she goes to answer it.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
used to form the superlative
From this reading One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
place of business where professional or clerical duties are performed
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading Pretty soon it rings and she goes to answer it.
gymnastic apparatus consisting of a pair of heavy metal circles (usually covered with leather) suspended by ropes; used for gymnastic exercises
From this reading Pretty soon it rings and she goes to answer it.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Pretty soon it rings and she goes to answer it.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
in the near future
From this reading Pretty soon it rings and she goes to answer it.
electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading One of the most discouraging things I have encountered is a great blank silence.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
look attentively
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
during the time that
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading The doctor asks his wife to keep a close watch on the telephone for a little while, and leaves the office.
Chapter 7 of The Story of a Doctor's Telephone—Told by His Wife by Ellen M. Firebaugh holds 435 sentences, grouped into 87 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 7 holds 435 sentences of The Story of a Doctor's Telephone—Told by His Wife, unabridged, divided into 87 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of The Story of a Doctor's Telephone—Told by His Wife by Ellen M. Firebaugh exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 435 sentences, grouped into 87 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 87 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 87 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 Story of a Doctor's Telephone—Told by His Wife by Ellen M. Firebaugh on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4597 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #38752 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #38752, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 383 minutes of reading across 920 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Story of a Doctor's Telephone—Told by His Wife section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Story of a Doctor's Telephone—Told by His Wife 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 Story of a Doctor's Telephone—Told by His Wife, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
