Chapter 13 of Tom the telephone boy is here in full — 104 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIII
Chapter 13 of Tom the telephone boy is here in full — 104 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home. A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him. “You poor boy!” she exclaimed. “Where have you been? Did you have your supper?”
Chapter 13 of Tom the telephone boy is here in full — 104 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/20 · 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.
an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury
From this reading “A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.”
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading “A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.”
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading “A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.”
of an obscure nature
From this reading “A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.”
past form of “stall” — postpone doing what one should be doing
From this reading “A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.”
a line or route along which something travels or moves
From this reading “A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.”
a wheeled vehicle that runs on rails and is propelled by electricity
From this reading “A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.”
an automotive vehicle suitable for hauling
From this reading “A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.”
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 transit line using streetcars or trolley buses
In this reading “A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.”
In this reading “A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.”
a large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments); different names are used in different sections of the United States
In this reading ““You poor boy!” she exclaimed.”
In this reading “A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.”
In this reading “A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.”
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 MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading “Where have you been?
a youthful male person
From this reading “You poor boy!” she exclaimed.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Did you have your supper?”
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading “You poor boy!” she exclaimed.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
set up or found
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
the act of departing
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “Where have you been?
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
a communication (usually brief) that is written or spoken or signaled
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
of an obscure nature
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading “You poor boy!” she exclaimed.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “You poor boy!” she exclaimed.
a deliberate discourteous act (usually as an expression of anger or disapproval)
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
past form of “stall” — postpone doing what one should be doing
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
a light evening meal; served in early evening if dinner is at midday or served late in the evening at bedtime
From this reading Did you have your supper?”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
in or at that place or location
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
male cat
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
a line or route along which something travels or moves
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
a wheeled vehicle that runs on rails and is propelled by electricity
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
an automotive vehicle suitable for hauling
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
at the time that
From this reading A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE There was a slight accident on the trolley line that night, when Tom was going home.
in or at the place that
From this reading A truck got stalled on the track, and it was nearly midnight when he got to the house, where he found his mother anxiously waiting for him.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You poor boy!” she exclaimed.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Did you have your supper?”
Chapter 13 of Tom the telephone boy by Frank V. Webster holds 104 sentences, grouped into 21 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 13 holds 104 sentences of Tom the telephone boy, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 13 of Tom the telephone boy by Frank V. Webster exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 104 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 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 13 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 telephone boy by Frank V. Webster on this page, its source edition and its audio.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Choose one of the 0 chapters of Tom the telephone boy 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 telephone boy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
