Chapter 1 of The Tempting of Tavernake is here in full — 315 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Tempting of Tavernake is here in full — 315 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her. He wasted no time whatever upon preliminaries. “I should be glad,” he said, “if you would tell me your name.” Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man. Upon Tavernake it had absolutely no effect.
Chapter 1 of The Tempting of Tavernake is here in full — 315 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/63 · 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.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “Upon Tavernake it had absolutely no effect.”
marked by extreme and violent energy
From this reading “Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.”
throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading “Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.”
a city in southern England to the northwest of London; site of Oxford University
From this reading “Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.”
plural of “preliminary” — a minor match preceding the main event
From this reading “He wasted no time whatever upon preliminaries.”
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading “Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.”
thrown into a state of intense fear or desperation
From this reading “Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.”
serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being
From this reading “He wasted no time whatever upon preliminaries.”
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 Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading Upon Tavernake it had absolutely no effect.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “I should be glad,” he said, “if you would tell me your name.”
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
unlike in nature or quality or form or degree
From this reading Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon
From this reading Upon Tavernake it had absolutely no effect.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
marked by extreme and violent energy
From this reading Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
showing or causing joy and pleasure; especially made happy
From this reading “I should be glad,” he said, “if you would tell me your name.”
throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Upon Tavernake it had absolutely no effect.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He wasted no time whatever upon preliminaries.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I should be glad,” he said, “if you would tell me your name.”
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading “I should be glad,” he said, “if you would tell me your name.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Upon Tavernake it had absolutely no effect.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “I should be glad,” he said, “if you would tell me your name.”
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading “I should be glad,” he said, “if you would tell me your name.”
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
not any; not one
From this reading He wasted no time whatever upon preliminaries.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
on one occasion
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
a city in southern England to the northwest of London; site of Oxford University
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
plural of “preliminary” — a minor match preceding the main event
From this reading He wasted no time whatever upon preliminaries.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “I should be glad,” he said, “if you would tell me your name.”
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading “I should be glad,” he said, “if you would tell me your name.”
a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
express in words
From this reading “I should be glad,” he said, “if you would tell me your name.”
thrown into a state of intense fear or desperation
From this reading Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading He wasted no time whatever upon preliminaries.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading He wasted no time whatever upon preliminaries.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Her first glance at him was fierce enough to have terrified a different sort of man.
serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being
From this reading He wasted no time whatever upon preliminaries.
any or all of a kind, it does not matter which
From this reading He wasted no time whatever upon preliminaries.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Tavernake caught her up in New Oxford Street and fell at once into step with her.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading “I should be glad,” he said, “if you would tell me your name.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “I should be glad,” he said, “if you would tell me your name.”
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “I should be glad,” he said, “if you would tell me your name.”
Chapter 1 of The Tempting of Tavernake by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim holds 315 sentences, grouped into 63 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 315 sentences of The Tempting of Tavernake, unabridged, divided into 63 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Tempting of Tavernake by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 315 sentences, grouped into 63 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 63 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 63 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.
Common questions about reading The Tempting of Tavernake by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7427 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5091 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5091, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1486 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Tempting of Tavernake section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 34 chapters of The Tempting of Tavernake 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 Tempting of Tavernake, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
