Chapter 5 of Tom, The Bootblack is here in full — 98 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Tom, The Bootblack is here in full — 98 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE LAST INTERVIEW. Two weeks passed away. Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on. At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully. Finally Tom was told that the old man could not live.
Chapter 5 of Tom, The Bootblack is here in full — 98 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/19 · 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.
plural of “answer” — a statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation
From this reading “At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.”
giving courage or confidence or hope
From this reading “At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.”
with hope; in a hopeful manner
From this reading “At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.”
a health facility where patients receive treatment
From this reading “Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.”
address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading “Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.”
conduct an interview in television, newspaper, and radio reporting
From this reading “THE LAST INTERVIEW.”
French biochemist who (with Jacques Monod) studied regulatory processes in cells (born in 1920)
From this reading “Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.”
to certain extent or degree
From this reading “At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.”
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.
a man who is very old
In this reading “Finally Tom was told that the old man could not live.”
In this reading “Two weeks passed away.”
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
In this reading “Two weeks passed away.”
In this reading “Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.”
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 Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.
plural of “answer” — a statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation
From this reading At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Two weeks passed away.
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Finally Tom was told that the old man could not live.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
a licensed medical practitioner
From this reading At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.
giving courage or confidence or hope
From this reading At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
after an unspecified period of time or an especially long delay
From this reading Finally Tom was told that the old man could not live.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.
the act of acquiring something
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
with hope; in a hopeful manner
From this reading At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.
a health facility where patients receive treatment
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
conduct an interview in television, newspaper, and radio reporting
From this reading THE LAST INTERVIEW.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
French biochemist who (with Jacques Monod) studied regulatory processes in cells (born in 1920)
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
immediately past
From this reading THE LAST INTERVIEW.
used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs
From this reading At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.
be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading Finally Tom was told that the old man could not live.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Finally Tom was told that the old man could not live.
to certain extent or degree
From this reading At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Finally Tom was told that the old man could not live.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading Finally Tom was told that the old man could not live.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading Two weeks passed away.
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Finally Tom was told that the old man could not live.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE LAST INTERVIEW.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading Finally Tom was told that the old man could not live.
male cat
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense
From this reading At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two weeks passed away.
occurring or encountered or experienced or observed frequently or in accordance with regular practice or procedure
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
plural of “week” — any period of seven consecutive days
From this reading Two weeks passed away.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Tom went about his business, as usual; but every day he made it a point to call at the hospital to inquire how Jacob was getting on.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading At first the answers were moderately encouraging, but a turn came, and the doctor spoke less hopefully.
Chapter 5 of Tom, The Bootblack by Horatio, Jr. Alger holds 98 sentences, grouped into 20 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 98 sentences of Tom, The Bootblack, unabridged, divided into 20 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Tom, The Bootblack by Horatio, Jr. Alger exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 98 sentences, grouped into 20 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 20 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 20 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.
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Yes. All 4823 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26355 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26355, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 401 minutes of reading across 965 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Tom, The Bootblack section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of Tom, The Bootblack 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, The Bootblack, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
