Complete classic literature • Five-line readings • Clear US narration
VELMORA ACADEMY
Academy of Archival Languages & Memory Studies
Menu Close
The Lost Girl
The Lost Girl

Chapter XVI

Cover illustration for The Lost Girl
Context Illustration Reading 1/120 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
SUSPENSE Christmas was at hand.
There was a heap of maize cobs still unstripped.
Alvina sat with Ciccio stripping them, in the corn-place.
“Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.
She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.
0:00 / 0:00
Speed 0.75x
AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

The Lost Girl

Chapter XVI

Reading 1/120 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
SUSPENSE Christmas was at hand.
Line 2
There was a heap of maize cobs still unstripped.
Line 3
Alvina sat with Ciccio stripping them, in the corn-place.
Line 4
“Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.
Line 5
She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

Learner Dictionary

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, audio, and collocations from this reading.

Asked noun US /asked/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading ““Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.”

Born noun US /born/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading ““Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.”

Come noun US /come/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.”

Hand noun US /hand/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “SUSPENSE Christmas was at hand.”

Here noun US /here/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading ““Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.”

Long noun US /long/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.”

Still noun US /still/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “There was a heap of maize cobs still unstripped.”

Till preposition US /tɪl/

up to a particular time

From this reading ““Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.”

Under preposition US /ˈʌndər/

below or beneath something; less than

From this reading “She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.”

All words in this reading · 53

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

adeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading There was a heap of maize cobs still unstripped.

able

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.

Alvina

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Alvina sat with Ciccio stripping them, in the corn-place.

askednounUS /asked/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.

atprepositionUS /æt/

in or near a particular place or position

From this reading SUSPENSE Christmas was at hand.

baby

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.

beauxiliary verbUS /biː/

used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.

bornnounUS /born/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.

burning

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

Christmas

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading SUSPENSE Christmas was at hand.

Ciccio

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Alvina sat with Ciccio stripping them, in the corn-place.

cob

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

cobs

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There was a heap of maize cobs still unstripped.

comenounUS /come/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

cone

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

corn-place

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Alvina sat with Ciccio stripping them, in the corn-place.

films

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

fingers

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

fromprepositionUS /frʌm/

showing where something starts, or who sent it

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

fruition

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

gold

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

hand

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading SUSPENSE Christmas was at hand.

hepronounUS /hiː/

a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.

heap

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There was a heap of maize cobs still unstripped.

herdeterminerUS /hɜːr/

belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.

herenounUS /here/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.

hisdeterminerUS /hɪz/

belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

inprepositionUS /ɪn/

inside something, or within a place, period, or state

From this reading Alvina sat with Ciccio stripping them, in the corn-place.

isauxiliary verbUS /ɪz/

the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.

leaves

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

longnounUS /long/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

maize

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There was a heap of maize cobs still unstripped.

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading There was a heap of maize cobs still unstripped.

off

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

ruddy

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

sat

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Alvina sat with Ciccio stripping them, in the corn-place.

ShepronounUS /ʃiː/

a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

stillnounUS /still/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading There was a heap of maize cobs still unstripped.

stop

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.

stripping

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Alvina sat with Ciccio stripping them, in the corn-place.

SUSPENSE

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading SUSPENSE Christmas was at hand.

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading Alvina sat with Ciccio stripping them, in the corn-place.

thempronounUS /ðem/

the people or things already mentioned, as the object

From this reading Alvina sat with Ciccio stripping them, in the corn-place.

There

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There was a heap of maize cobs still unstripped.

tillprepositionUS /tɪl/

up to a particular time

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.

toparticleUS /tuː/

used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.

underprepositionUS /ˈʌndər/

below or beneath something; less than

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

unstripped

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There was a heap of maize cobs still unstripped.

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading SUSPENSE Christmas was at hand.

watched

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She watched the films of the leaves come off from the burning gold maize cob under his fingers, the long, ruddy cone of fruition.

Willmodal verbUS /wɪl/

used to talk about the future, or about willingness

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.

withprepositionUS /wɪð/

in the company of; together with

From this reading Alvina sat with Ciccio stripping them, in the corn-place.

youpronounUS /juː/

the person or people being spoken to

From this reading “Will you be able to stop here till the baby is born?” he asked her.