Chapter 16 of The Swoop! is here in full — 100 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of The Swoop! is here in full — 100 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth. The battle had been over for twenty-four hours. The fog had thinned to a light lemon colour. It was raining. By now the country was in possession of the main facts.
Chapter 16 of The Swoop! is here in full — 100 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/20 · 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.
droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
From this reading “The fog had thinned to a light lemon colour.”
yellow oval fruit with juicy acidic flesh
From this reading “The fog had thinned to a light lemon colour.”
falling in drops or as if falling like rain
From this reading “It was raining.”
the month following August and preceding October
From this reading “THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth.”
coming next after the fifteenth in position
From this reading “THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth.”
mixed with water
From this reading “The fog had thinned to a light lemon colour.”
being four more than twenty
From this reading “The battle had been over for twenty-four hours.”
the fourth day of the week; the third working day
From this reading “THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth.”
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 The fog had thinned to a light lemon colour.
the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth.
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading The battle had been over for twenty-four hours.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading The battle had been over for twenty-four hours.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading By now the country was in possession of the main facts.
having or capable of producing colors
From this reading The fog had thinned to a light lemon colour.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading By now the country was in possession of the main facts.
a division of the United Kingdom
From this reading THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth.
plural of “fact” — a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred
From this reading By now the country was in possession of the main facts.
droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
From this reading The fog had thinned to a light lemon colour.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The battle had been over for twenty-four hours.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The battle had been over for twenty-four hours.
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading The battle had been over for twenty-four hours.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading By now the country was in possession of the main facts.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth.
yellow oval fruit with juicy acidic flesh
From this reading The fog had thinned to a light lemon colour.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading The fog had thinned to a light lemon colour.
most important element
From this reading By now the country was in possession of the main facts.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading By now the country was in possession of the main facts.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth.
above and across; more than
From this reading The battle had been over for twenty-four hours.
the act of having and controlling property
From this reading By now the country was in possession of the main facts.
falling in drops or as if falling like rain
From this reading It was raining.
the month following August and preceding October
From this reading THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth.
coming next after the fifteenth in position
From this reading THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth.
mixed with water
From this reading The fog had thinned to a light lemon colour.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The fog had thinned to a light lemon colour.
a successful ending of a struggle or contest
From this reading THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth.
being four more than twenty
From this reading The battle had been over for twenty-four hours.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth.
the fourth day of the week; the third working day
From this reading THE TRIUMPH OF ENGLAND It was the afternoon of Wednesday, September the Sixteenth.
Chapter 16 of The Swoop! by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse holds 100 sentences, grouped into 20 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 16 holds 100 sentences of The Swoop!, unabridged, divided into 20 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of The Swoop! by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 100 sentences, grouped into 20 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 20 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 20 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 16 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 Swoop! by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1462 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #7050 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #7050, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 121 minutes of reading across 293 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Swoop! section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The Swoop! 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 Swoop!, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
