Chapter 21 of The Young O'Briens is here in full — 393 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of The Young O'Briens is here in full — 393 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He laughed. "Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin! Well, old Tellbridge wants to speak to me this afternoon! In the manager’s room, Nell!" "A rise!" she ejaculated.
Chapter 21 of The Young O'Briens is here in full — 393 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/78 · 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.
the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading “Well, old Tellbridge wants to speak to me this afternoon!”
bearing a heavy burden of work or difficulties or responsibilities
From this reading “"Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin!”
a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior
From this reading “"Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin!”
past form of “laugh” — produce laughter
From this reading “He laughed.”
possessive form of “manager” — someone who controls resources and expenditures
move upward
From this reading “"A rise!" she ejaculated.”
either of two offspring born at the same time from the same pregnancy
From this reading “"Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin!”
plural of “want” — a state of extreme poverty
From this reading “Well, old Tellbridge wants to speak to me this afternoon!”
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.
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 "Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin!
the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading Well, old Tellbridge wants to speak to me this afternoon!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin!
bearing a heavy burden of work or difficulties or responsibilities
From this reading "Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin!
a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior
From this reading "Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin!
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading "Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "A rise!" she ejaculated.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He laughed.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In the manager’s room, Nell!"
past form of “laugh” — produce laughter
From this reading He laughed.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading "Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin!
possessive form of “manager” — someone who controls resources and expenditures
From this reading In the manager’s room, Nell!"
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Well, old Tellbridge wants to speak to me this afternoon!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading In the manager’s room, Nell!"
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading "Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin!
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading Well, old Tellbridge wants to speak to me this afternoon!
move upward
From this reading "A rise!" she ejaculated.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading In the manager’s room, Nell!"
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "A rise!" she ejaculated.
express in speech
From this reading Well, old Tellbridge wants to speak to me this afternoon!
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading "Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, old Tellbridge wants to speak to me this afternoon!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading In the manager’s room, Nell!"
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Well, old Tellbridge wants to speak to me this afternoon!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Well, old Tellbridge wants to speak to me this afternoon!
either of two offspring born at the same time from the same pregnancy
From this reading "Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin!
plural of “want” — a state of extreme poverty
From this reading Well, old Tellbridge wants to speak to me this afternoon!
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Well, old Tellbridge wants to speak to me this afternoon!
in the company of; together with
From this reading "Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin!
Chapter 21 of The Young O'Briens by Margaret Westrup holds 393 sentences, grouped into 79 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 21 holds 393 sentences of The Young O'Briens, unabridged, divided into 79 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of The Young O'Briens by Margaret Westrup exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 393 sentences, grouped into 79 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 79 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 79 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 21 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.
