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.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
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.
Stage directions are purposely simplified and few abbreviations used. _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience. MUSIC. Music is provided for a few of the songs in this book. The others are to be sung to old airs that are presumably familiar to everyone.
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 9/71 · 5 reading units · Lines 41–45
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.
plural of “abbreviation” — a shortened form of a word or phrase
From this reading “Stage directions are purposely simplified and few abbreviations used.”
a theatrical performer
From this reading “_R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.”
affected manners intended to impress others
From this reading “The others are to be sung to old airs that are presumably familiar to everyone.”
The middle point or core of an area.
From this reading “_R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.”
by reasonable assumption
From this reading “The others are to be sung to old airs that are presumably familiar to everyone.”
with intention; in an intentional manner
From this reading “Stage directions are purposely simplified and few abbreviations used.”
inflected form of “simplify” — make simpler or easier or reduce in complexity or extent
From this reading “Stage directions are purposely simplified and few abbreviations used.”
the imperial dynasty of China from 960 to 1279; noted for art and literature and philosophy
From this reading “The others are to be sung to old airs that are presumably familiar to everyone.”
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 Music is provided for a few of the songs in this book.
plural of “abbreviation” — a shortened form of a word or phrase
From this reading Stage directions are purposely simplified and few abbreviations used.
a theatrical performer
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
affected manners intended to impress others
From this reading The others are to be sung to old airs that are presumably familiar to everyone.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Stage directions are purposely simplified and few abbreviations used.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Stage directions are purposely simplified and few abbreviations used.
a gathering of spectators or listeners at a (usually public) performance
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
a written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together)
From this reading Music is provided for a few of the songs in this book.
a degree on the centigrade scale of temperature
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
The middle point or core of an area.
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
plural of “direction” — a line leading to a place or point
From this reading Stage directions are purposely simplified and few abbreviations used.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
every person
From this reading The others are to be sung to old airs that are presumably familiar to everyone.
a lining applied to the edge of a garment for ornamentation or strengthening
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
well known or easily recognized
From this reading The others are to be sung to old airs that are presumably familiar to everyone.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading Stage directions are purposely simplified and few abbreviations used.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Music is provided for a few of the songs in this book.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Music is provided for a few of the songs in this book.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
a metric unit of capacity, formerly defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water under standard conditions; now equal to 1,000 cubic centimeters (or approximately 1.75 pints)
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
thing or person that acts to produce a particular effect or achieve an end
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading MUSIC.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The others are to be sung to old airs that are presumably familiar to everyone.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The others are to be sung to old airs that are presumably familiar to everyone.
by reasonable assumption
From this reading The others are to be sung to old airs that are presumably familiar to everyone.
past form of “provide” — give something useful or necessary to
From this reading Music is provided for a few of the songs in this book.
with intention; in an intentional manner
From this reading Stage directions are purposely simplified and few abbreviations used.
a unit of radiation exposure; the dose of ionizing radiation that will produce 1 electrostatic unit of electricity in 1 cc of dry air
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
precisely, exactly
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
inflected form of “simplify” — make simpler or easier or reduce in complexity or extent
From this reading Stage directions are purposely simplified and few abbreviations used.
plural of “song” — a short musical composition with words
From this reading Music is provided for a few of the songs in this book.
any distinct time period in a sequence of events
From this reading Stage directions are purposely simplified and few abbreviations used.
the imperial dynasty of China from 960 to 1279; noted for art and literature and philosophy
From this reading The others are to be sung to old airs that are presumably familiar to everyone.
required or under orders
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The others are to be sung to old airs that are presumably familiar to everyone.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Music is provided for a few of the songs in this book.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading _R._ means right of the stage: _C._, center; _L._, left, etc. The actor is supposed to be facing the audience.
employed in accomplishing something
From this reading Stage directions are purposely simplified and few abbreviations used.
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.
