Chapter 10 of Tom, The Bootblack is here in full — 131 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter X
Chapter 10 of Tom, The Bootblack is here in full — 131 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
TOM ARRIVES IN CINCINNATI. "You haven't told me your name yet," said Bessie, after a while. "Gilbert Grey," said Tom. The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over. He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
Chapter 10 of Tom, The Bootblack is here in full — 131 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/26 · 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.
third-person singular of “arrive” — reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress
From this reading “TOM ARRIVES IN CINCINNATI.”
the particular occupation for which you are trained
From this reading “He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.”
a city in southern Ohio on the Ohio river
From this reading “TOM ARRIVES IN CINCINNATI.”
in harmony with the spirit of particular persons or occasion
From this reading “He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.”
a unit of magnetomotive force equal to 0.7958 ampere-turns
From this reading “"Gilbert Grey," said Tom.”
take up or begin anew
From this reading “He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.”
legally valid
From this reading “He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.”
past form of “sound” — appear in a certain way
From this reading “The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.”
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 “He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.”
take possession of
In this reading “He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.”
In this reading “TOM ARRIVES IN CINCINNATI.”
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 "You haven't told me your name yet," said Bessie, after a while.
later than; following
From this reading "You haven't told me your name yet," said Bessie, after a while.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
third-person singular of “arrive” — reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress
From this reading TOM ARRIVES IN CINCINNATI.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "You haven't told me your name yet," said Bessie, after a while.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
the particular occupation for which you are trained
From this reading He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
a city in southern Ohio on the Ohio river
From this reading TOM ARRIVES IN CINCINNATI.
an assertion of a right (as to money or property)
From this reading He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
past form of “enter” — to come or go into
From this reading He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
in harmony with the spirit of particular persons or occasion
From this reading He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
a unit of magnetomotive force equal to 0.7958 ampere-turns
From this reading "Gilbert Grey," said Tom.
of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading "Gilbert Grey," said Tom.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "You haven't told me your name yet," said Bessie, after a while.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading TOM ARRIVES IN CINCINNATI.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "You haven't told me your name yet," said Bessie, after a while.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading "You haven't told me your name yet," said Bessie, after a while.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
above and across; more than
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
take up or begin anew
From this reading He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
legally valid
From this reading He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "You haven't told me your name yet," said Bessie, after a while.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
past form of “sound” — appear in a certain way
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading "You haven't told me your name yet," said Bessie, after a while.
male cat
From this reading TOM ARRIVES IN CINCINNATI.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The name sounded strange to himself, for he had always been called Tom; but his street-life was over.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading He had entered upon a new career, and it was fitting that he should resume the name to which he had a rightful claim.
during the time that
From this reading "You haven't told me your name yet," said Bessie, after a while.
but in spite of that
From this reading "You haven't told me your name yet," said Bessie, after a while.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You haven't told me your name yet," said Bessie, after a while.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You haven't told me your name yet," said Bessie, after a while.
Chapter 10 of Tom, The Bootblack by Horatio, Jr. Alger holds 131 sentences, grouped into 27 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 10 holds 131 sentences of Tom, The Bootblack, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 10 of Tom, The Bootblack by Horatio, Jr. Alger exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 131 sentences, grouped into 27 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 27 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 27 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 10 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, The Bootblack by Horatio, Jr. Alger on this page, its source edition and its audio.
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.
