Chapter 6 of The Topaz Story Book is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of The Topaz Story Book is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him. He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand. It seemed perfectly simple, somehow. It was this one. So he turned out into the garden.
Chapter 6 of The Topaz Story Book is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
having or marked by confidence or assurance
From this reading “He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.”
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading “He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.”
a plot of ground where plants are cultivated
From this reading “So he turned out into the garden.”
arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity
From this reading “He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.”
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.”
having few parts; not complex or complicated or involved
From this reading “It seemed perfectly simple, somehow.”
in some unspecified way or manner; or by some unspecified means
From this reading “It seemed perfectly simple, somehow.”
happening without warning or in a short space of time
From this reading “He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.”
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 “He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.”
In this reading “It seemed perfectly simple, somehow.”
In this reading “So he turned out into the garden.”
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 He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.
having or marked by confidence or assurance
From this reading He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.
a plot of ground where plants are cultivated
From this reading So he turned out into the garden.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.
arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity
From this reading He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading So he turned out into the garden.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading It was this one.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading So he turned out into the garden.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.
precisely, exactly
From this reading He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading It seemed perfectly simple, somehow.
having few parts; not complex or complicated or involved
From this reading It seemed perfectly simple, somehow.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So he turned out into the garden.
in some unspecified way or manner; or by some unspecified means
From this reading It seemed perfectly simple, somehow.
happening without warning or in a short space of time
From this reading He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading It was this one.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He came to the first door, and a sudden inspiration came to him.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading So he turned out into the garden.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading He never knew how it was, but he felt perfectly confident which was his right hand.
Chapter 6 of The Topaz Story Book by Ada M. (Ada Maria)[Compiler] Skinner holds 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 6 holds 400 sentences of The Topaz Story Book, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of The Topaz Story Book by Ada M. (Ada Maria)[Compiler] Skinner exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 6 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 Topaz Story Book by Ada M. (Ada Maria)[Compiler] Skinner on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3554 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #51734 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #51734, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 296 minutes of reading across 711 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Topaz Story Book section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of The Topaz Story Book 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 Topaz Story Book, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
