Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
'Twas a fine voice, even as ever I heard. ANNA. The hills, as with lightning, shone at his word. SIMEON. He spoke of a Babe here in Bethlehem.
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 65/71 · 5 reading units · Lines 321–325
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.
a former copper coin of Pakistan and India
From this reading “ANNA.”
a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading “He spoke of a Babe here in Bethlehem.”
a town in eastern Pennsylvania on the Lehigh River to the northwest of Philadelphia; an important center for steel production
From this reading “He spoke of a Babe here in Bethlehem.”
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading “'Twas a fine voice, even as ever I heard.”
plural of “hill” — a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading “The hills, as with lightning, shone at his word.”
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading “The hills, as with lightning, shone at his word.”
inflected form of “shine” — be bright by reflecting or casting light
From this reading “The hills, as with lightning, shone at his word.”
(Old Testament) the 2nd son of Jacob and one of the 12 patriarchs of Israel
From this reading “SIMEON.”
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 'Twas a fine voice, even as ever I heard.
a former copper coin of Pakistan and India
From this reading ANNA.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading 'Twas a fine voice, even as ever I heard.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The hills, as with lightning, shone at his word.
a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading He spoke of a Babe here in Bethlehem.
a town in eastern Pennsylvania on the Lehigh River to the northwest of Philadelphia; an important center for steel production
From this reading He spoke of a Babe here in Bethlehem.
divisible by two
From this reading 'Twas a fine voice, even as ever I heard.
at any time
From this reading 'Twas a fine voice, even as ever I heard.
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading 'Twas a fine voice, even as ever I heard.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He spoke of a Babe here in Bethlehem.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading 'Twas a fine voice, even as ever I heard.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading He spoke of a Babe here in Bethlehem.
plural of “hill” — a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading The hills, as with lightning, shone at his word.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The hills, as with lightning, shone at his word.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading 'Twas a fine voice, even as ever I heard.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He spoke of a Babe here in Bethlehem.
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading The hills, as with lightning, shone at his word.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He spoke of a Babe here in Bethlehem.
inflected form of “shine” — be bright by reflecting or casting light
From this reading The hills, as with lightning, shone at his word.
(Old Testament) the 2nd son of Jacob and one of the 12 patriarchs of Israel
From this reading SIMEON.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading He spoke of a Babe here in Bethlehem.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The hills, as with lightning, shone at his word.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'Twas a fine voice, even as ever I heard.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading 'Twas a fine voice, even as ever I heard.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The hills, as with lightning, shone at his word.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading The hills, as with lightning, shone at his word.
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry by Walter Ben Hare holds 355 sentences, grouped into 71 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 1 holds 355 sentences of The White Christmas and other Merry, unabridged, divided into 71 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry by Walter Ben Hare exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 355 sentences, grouped into 71 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 71 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 71 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.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in The White Christmas and other Merry, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
