Chapter VII of Will Somers, the Boy Detective, “Trouble in the Basement,” is here in full — 138 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter VII of Will Somers, the Boy Detective, “Trouble in the Basement,” is here in full — 138 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased. “How shall we ship them?” asked the clerk. “You needn’t mind. Just lay them by. Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
Chapter VII of Will Somers, the Boy Detective, “Trouble in the Basement,” is here in full — 138 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
the first of the Old Testament patriarchs and the father of Isaac; according to Genesis, God promised to give Abraham's family (the Hebrews) the land of Canaan (the Promised Land); God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son
From this reading “Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.”
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading “Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.”
obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
From this reading “Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.””
an employee who performs clerical work (e.g., keeps records or accounts)
From this reading ““How shall we ship them?” asked the clerk.”
someone who pays for goods or services
From this reading “Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.”
plural of “good” — benefit
From this reading “Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.”
past form of “purchase” — obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
From this reading “Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.”
Rhodesian statesman who declared independence of Zimbabwe from Great Britain (born in 1919)
From this reading “Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.”
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.
belong to an earlier time
In this reading “Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.””
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 first of the Old Testament patriarchs and the father of Isaac; according to Genesis, God promised to give Abraham's family (the Hebrews) the land of Canaan (the Promised Land); God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
(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 Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “How shall we ship them?” asked the clerk.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Just lay them by.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
an employee who performs clerical work (e.g., keeps records or accounts)
From this reading “How shall we ship them?” asked the clerk.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
someone who pays for goods or services
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
plural of “good” — benefit
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “How shall we ship them?” asked the clerk.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
and nothing more
From this reading Just lay them by.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Just lay them by.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading “You needn’t mind.
a form of address for a man
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You needn’t mind.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
marked by the reception of pay
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
past form of “purchase” — obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
100 senti equal 1 kroon in Estonia
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading “How shall we ship them?” asked the clerk.
transport commercially
From this reading “How shall we ship them?” asked the clerk.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
Rhodesian statesman who declared independence of Zimbabwe from Great Britain (born in 1919)
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading “How shall we ship them?” asked the clerk.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
in contact with each other or in proximity
From this reading Might have to buy something else before I go back and can have all sent together.”
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading “How shall we ship them?” asked the clerk.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Mr. Abraham Smith, as the country customer called himself, paid for the small bill of goods which he had purchased.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You needn’t mind.
Chapter 7 of Will Somers, the Boy Detective by Charles Morris holds 138 sentences, grouped into 28 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 7 holds 138 sentences of Will Somers, the Boy Detective, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of Will Somers, the Boy Detective by Charles Morris exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 138 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 7 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 3514 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60978 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60978, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 292 minutes of reading across 703 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Will Somers, the Boy Detective section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of Will Somers, the Boy Detective 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 Will Somers, the Boy Detective, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
