Chapter 4 of When Polly Was Eighteen is here in full — 211 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of When Polly Was Eighteen is here in full — 211 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE BIRTHDAY FÊTE Polly awoke early. Her first feeling was one of vague depression. Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David. And this was the day of the fête, the day which she had anticipated with such pleasure! She had planned to write a full account of it to her lover.
Chapter 4 of When Polly Was Eighteen is here in full — 211 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/42 · 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.
expected hopefully
From this reading “And this was the day of the fête, the day which she had anticipated with such pleasure!”
inflected form of “awake” — stop sleeping
From this reading “THE BIRTHDAY FÊTE Polly awoke early.”
an anniversary of the day on which a person was born (or the celebration of it)
From this reading “THE BIRTHDAY FÊTE Polly awoke early.”
rid of objects or obstructions such as e.g. trees and brush
From this reading “Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.”
a mental state characterized by a pessimistic sense of inadequacy and a despondent lack of activity
From this reading “Her first feeling was one of vague depression.”
a person who loves someone or is loved by someone
From this reading “She had planned to write a full account of it to her lover.”
designed or carried out according to a plan
From this reading “She had planned to write a full account of it to her lover.”
not clearly expressed or understood
From this reading “Her first feeling was one of vague depression.”
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 “She had planned to write a full account of it to her lover.”
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 She had planned to write a full account of it to her lover.
a record or narrative description of past events
From this reading She had planned to write a full account of it to her lover.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
expected hopefully
From this reading And this was the day of the fête, the day which she had anticipated with such pleasure!
inflected form of “awake” — stop sleeping
From this reading THE BIRTHDAY FÊTE Polly awoke early.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
an anniversary of the day on which a person was born (or the celebration of it)
From this reading THE BIRTHDAY FÊTE Polly awoke early.
rid of objects or obstructions such as e.g. trees and brush
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
patron saint of Wales (circa 520-600)
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading And this was the day of the fête, the day which she had anticipated with such pleasure!
a mental state characterized by a pessimistic sense of inadequacy and a despondent lack of activity
From this reading Her first feeling was one of vague depression.
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading THE BIRTHDAY FÊTE Polly awoke early.
the experiencing of affective and emotional states
From this reading Her first feeling was one of vague depression.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Her first feeling was one of vague depression.
containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
From this reading She had planned to write a full account of it to her lover.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE BIRTHDAY FÊTE Polly awoke early.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
past form of “happen” — come to pass
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Her first feeling was one of vague depression.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
a person who loves someone or is loved by someone
From this reading She had planned to write a full account of it to her lover.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Her first feeling was one of vague depression.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Her first feeling was one of vague depression.
above and across; more than
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
designed or carried out according to a plan
From this reading She had planned to write a full account of it to her lover.
a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading And this was the day of the fête, the day which she had anticipated with such pleasure!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE BIRTHDAY FÊTE Polly awoke early.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading And this was the day of the fête, the day which she had anticipated with such pleasure!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE BIRTHDAY FÊTE Polly awoke early.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading And this was the day of the fête, the day which she had anticipated with such pleasure!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She had planned to write a full account of it to her lover.
not clearly expressed or understood
From this reading Her first feeling was one of vague depression.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Her first feeling was one of vague depression.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Then her mind cleared, and she knew what had happened--it was all over between her and David.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading And this was the day of the fête, the day which she had anticipated with such pleasure!
in the company of; together with
From this reading And this was the day of the fête, the day which she had anticipated with such pleasure!
produce a literary work
From this reading She had planned to write a full account of it to her lover.
Chapter 4 of When Polly Was Eighteen by Emma C. Dowd holds 211 sentences, grouped into 43 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 4 holds 211 sentences of When Polly Was Eighteen, unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of When Polly Was Eighteen by Emma C. Dowd exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 211 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 4 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 4786 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #58512 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #58512, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 398 minutes of reading across 958 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through When Polly Was Eighteen section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 30 chapters of When Polly Was Eighteen 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 When Polly Was Eighteen, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
