Chapter 12 of The Street Called Straight is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Street Called Straight is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He grew still bolder. The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome. "Then why don't you break off your engagement?" It was a long while before she answered. "He won't let me," she said then.
Chapter 12 of The Street Called Straight is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 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.
comparative of “bold” — fearless and daring
From this reading “He grew still bolder.”
terminate
From this reading “"Then why don't you break off your engagement?"”
provide with a covering or cause to be covered
From this reading “The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.”
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading “"Then why don't you break off your engagement?"”
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading “He grew still bolder.”
close or warm friendship
From this reading “The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.”
the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time
From this reading “The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.”
disposed to venture or take risks
From this reading “The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.”
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 It was a long while before she answered.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.
past form of “answer” — react verbally
From this reading It was a long while before she answered.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading It was a long while before she answered.
comparative of “bold” — fearless and daring
From this reading He grew still bolder.
terminate
From this reading "Then why don't you break off your engagement?"
provide with a covering or cause to be covered
From this reading The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Then why don't you break off your engagement?"
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading "Then why don't you break off your engagement?"
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading He grew still bolder.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He grew still bolder.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.
close or warm friendship
From this reading The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a long while before she answered.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading "He won't let me," she said then.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading It was a long while before she answered.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "He won't let me," she said then.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading "Then why don't you break off your engagement?"
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "He won't let me," she said then.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading It was a long while before she answered.
the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time
From this reading The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.
not in physical motion
From this reading He grew still bolder.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading "Then why don't you break off your engagement?"
disposed to venture or take risks
From this reading The cover of the night and the intimacy of the situation made him venturesome.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was a long while before she answered.
during the time that
From this reading It was a long while before she answered.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading "Then why don't you break off your engagement?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "He won't let me," she said then.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Then why don't you break off your engagement?"
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Then why don't you break off your engagement?"
Chapter 12 of The Street Called Straight by Basil King holds 410 sentences, grouped into 82 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 12 holds 410 sentences of The Street Called Straight, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Street Called Straight by Basil King exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 410 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 12 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 Street Called Straight by Basil King on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6982 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #14394 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #14394, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 581 minutes of reading across 1397 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Street Called Straight section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The Street Called Straight 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 Street Called Straight, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
