Chapter 16 of When Polly Was Eighteen is here in full — 84 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of When Polly Was Eighteen is here in full — 84 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.” The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile. “Why, I will, Benedicta. I’ll teach you any time. It isn’t much to learn.
Chapter 16 of When Polly Was Eighteen is here in full — 84 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/16 · 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.
gain knowledge or skills
From this reading “It isn’t much to learn.”
any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks
From this reading “BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.””
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading “BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.””
a person who sings
From this reading “The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile.”
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading “The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile.”
impart skills or knowledge to
From this reading “I’ll teach you any time.”
very cordial
From this reading “The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile.”
the one or ones belonging to the person spoken to
From this reading “BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.””
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 “I’ll teach you any time.”
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 The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading I’ll teach you any time.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile.
a young female
From this reading The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I’ll teach you any time.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It isn’t much to learn.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
gain knowledge or skills
From this reading It isn’t much to learn.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
to a great degree or extent
From this reading It isn’t much to learn.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
express in words
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
a person who sings
From this reading The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile.
impart skills or knowledge to
From this reading I’ll teach you any time.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading I’ll teach you any time.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It isn’t much to learn.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile.
very cordial
From this reading The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading “Why, I will, Benedicta.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading “Why, I will, Benedicta.
hope for; have a wish
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
in the company of; together with
From this reading The girl turned from her Singer with a welcoming smile.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I’ll teach you any time.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
the one or ones belonging to the person spoken to
From this reading BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO “Say, Miss Polly, I wish you’d let me run that machine o’ yours.”
Chapter 16 of When Polly Was Eighteen by Emma C. Dowd holds 84 sentences, grouped into 17 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 16 holds 84 sentences of When Polly Was Eighteen, unabridged, divided into 17 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of When Polly Was Eighteen by Emma C. Dowd exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 84 sentences, grouped into 17 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 17 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 17 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 16 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 When Polly Was Eighteen by Emma C. Dowd on this page, its source edition and its audio.
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.
