Chapter 17 of Tom Taylor at West Point is here in full — 176 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of Tom Taylor at West Point is here in full — 176 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A QUARREL “Oh, Tom! How fine you look! How tall and straight you are! What a--why, what a _man_ you have become!” Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
Chapter 17 of Tom Taylor at West Point is here in full — 176 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/35 · 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.
a city of southeastern Pennsylvania on the Delaware river (an industrial suburb of Philadelphia)
From this reading “Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.”
past form of “greet” — express greetings upon meeting someone
From this reading “Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.”
possessive form of “hero” — a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength
an event that occurs at a critical time
From this reading “Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.”
an angry dispute
From this reading “A QUARREL “Oh, Tom!”
a facility equipped with special equipment and personnel for a particular purpose
From this reading “Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.”
great in vertical dimension; high in stature
From this reading “How tall and straight you are!”
possessive form of “tom” — male cat
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 “Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.”
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 A QUARREL “Oh, Tom!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading How tall and straight you are!
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading How tall and straight you are!
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading What a--why, what a _man_ you have become!”
a city of southeastern Pennsylvania on the Delaware river (an industrial suburb of Philadelphia)
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading How fine you look!
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
past form of “greet” — express greetings upon meeting someone
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading What a--why, what a _man_ you have become!”
possessive form of “hero” — a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How fine you look!
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading How fine you look!
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading What a--why, what a _man_ you have become!”
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
an event that occurs at a critical time
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading A QUARREL “Oh, Tom!
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
an angry dispute
From this reading A QUARREL “Oh, Tom!
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
a facility equipped with special equipment and personnel for a particular purpose
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
successive (without a break)
From this reading How tall and straight you are!
great in vertical dimension; high in stature
From this reading How tall and straight you are!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
(used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
male cat
From this reading A QUARREL “Oh, Tom!
possessive form of “tom” — male cat
From this reading Thus our hero’s mother greeted him as she met him at the Chester station on the occasion of Tom’s first home-coming.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What a--why, what a _man_ you have become!”
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading What a--why, what a _man_ you have become!”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading How fine you look!
Chapter 17 of Tom Taylor at West Point by Frank V. Webster holds 176 sentences, grouped into 36 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 17 holds 176 sentences of Tom Taylor at West Point, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of Tom Taylor at West Point by Frank V. Webster exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 176 sentences, grouped into 36 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 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 36 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 17 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 Tom Taylor at West Point by Frank V. Webster on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3016 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #71034 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #71034, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 251 minutes of reading across 604 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Tom Taylor at West Point section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of Tom Taylor at West Point 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 Tom Taylor at West Point, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
