Chapter 20 of When Polly Was Eighteen is here in full — 164 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of When Polly Was Eighteen is here in full — 164 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!” The man greeted her with the smile that he usually wore. “Good-morning,” he said. “You’re goin’ to have comp’ny!” “Am I?” she asked in surprise.
Chapter 20 of When Polly Was Eighteen is here in full — 164 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/32 · 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.
past form of “greet” — express greetings upon meeting someone
From this reading “The man greeted her with the smile that he usually wore.”
a retail merchant who sells foodstuffs (and some household supplies)
From this reading “THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!””
a small worthless amount
From this reading “THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!””
a room equipped for preparing meals
From this reading “THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!””
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading ““Am I?” she asked in surprise.”
a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading “THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!””
under normal conditions
From this reading “The man greeted her with the smile that he usually wore.”
inflected form of “wear” — be dressed in
From this reading “The man greeted her with the smile that he usually wore.”
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 “THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!””
In this reading ““Am I?” she asked in surprise.”
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.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading “Am I?” she asked in surprise.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!”
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “Am I?” she asked in surprise.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!”
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You’re goin’ to have comp’ny!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You’re goin’ to have comp’ny!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Good-morning,” he said.
past form of “greet” — express greetings upon meeting someone
From this reading The man greeted her with the smile that he usually wore.
a retail merchant who sells foodstuffs (and some household supplies)
From this reading THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!”
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “You’re goin’ to have comp’ny!”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The man greeted her with the smile that he usually wore.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The man greeted her with the smile that he usually wore.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Am I?” she asked in surprise.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!”
a small worthless amount
From this reading THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!”
a room equipped for preparing meals
From this reading THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!”
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The man greeted her with the smile that he usually wore.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Good-morning,” he said.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Am I?” she asked in surprise.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading The man greeted her with the smile that he usually wore.
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading “Am I?” she asked in surprise.
a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The man greeted her with the smile that he usually wore.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “You’re goin’ to have comp’ny!”
under normal conditions
From this reading The man greeted her with the smile that he usually wore.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THE TELEGRAM Grocer Jack was in the kitchen, and Benedicta called, “Miss Polly!”
in the company of; together with
From this reading The man greeted her with the smile that he usually wore.
inflected form of “wear” — be dressed in
From this reading The man greeted her with the smile that he usually wore.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You’re goin’ to have comp’ny!”
Chapter 20 of When Polly Was Eighteen by Emma C. Dowd holds 164 sentences, grouped into 33 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 20 holds 164 sentences of When Polly Was Eighteen, unabridged, divided into 33 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of When Polly Was Eighteen by Emma C. Dowd exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 164 sentences, grouped into 33 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 33 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 33 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 20 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.
