Chapter 5 of The Young O'Briens is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Young O'Briens is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Two minutes later Miss Kezia’s door opened once more. Dead silence greeted her. She went a few steps up the stairs. All doors were shut. Miss Kezia was sleepy, even more than she was cross.
Chapter 5 of The Young O'Briens is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
travel across or pass over
From this reading “Miss Kezia was sleepy, even more than she was cross.”
plural of “door” — a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading “All doors were shut.”
past form of “greet” — express greetings upon meeting someone
From this reading “Dead silence greeted her.”
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading “Two minutes later Miss Kezia’s door opened once more.”
move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut
From this reading “All doors were shut.”
ready to fall asleep
From this reading “Miss Kezia was sleepy, even more than she was cross.”
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading “She went a few steps up the stairs.”
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading “She went a few steps up the stairs.”
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 “She went a few steps up the stairs.”
anew
In this reading “Two minutes later Miss Kezia’s door opened once more.”
In this reading “Dead silence greeted her.”
In this reading “Two minutes later Miss Kezia’s door opened once more.”
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 She went a few steps up the stairs.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading All doors were shut.
travel across or pass over
From this reading Miss Kezia was sleepy, even more than she was cross.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading Dead silence greeted her.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Two minutes later Miss Kezia’s door opened once more.
plural of “door” — a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading All doors were shut.
divisible by two
From this reading Miss Kezia was sleepy, even more than she was cross.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading She went a few steps up the stairs.
past form of “greet” — express greetings upon meeting someone
From this reading Dead silence greeted her.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Dead silence greeted her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Miss Kezia was sleepy, even more than she was cross.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Two minutes later Miss Kezia’s door opened once more.
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading Two minutes later Miss Kezia’s door opened once more.
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading Two minutes later Miss Kezia’s door opened once more.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading Two minutes later Miss Kezia’s door opened once more.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Two minutes later Miss Kezia’s door opened once more.
on one occasion
From this reading Two minutes later Miss Kezia’s door opened once more.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading Two minutes later Miss Kezia’s door opened once more.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She went a few steps up the stairs.
move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut
From this reading All doors were shut.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading Dead silence greeted her.
ready to fall asleep
From this reading Miss Kezia was sleepy, even more than she was cross.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading She went a few steps up the stairs.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading She went a few steps up the stairs.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Miss Kezia was sleepy, even more than she was cross.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She went a few steps up the stairs.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two minutes later Miss Kezia’s door opened once more.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading She went a few steps up the stairs.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Miss Kezia was sleepy, even more than she was cross.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading She went a few steps up the stairs.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading All doors were shut.
Chapter 5 of The Young O'Briens by Margaret Westrup holds 408 sentences, grouped into 82 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 5 holds 408 sentences of The Young O'Briens, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Young O'Briens by Margaret Westrup exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 408 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 5 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 Young O'Briens by Margaret Westrup on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8807 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #45324 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #45324, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1762 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Young O'Briens section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 22 chapters of The Young O'Briens 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 Young O'Briens, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
