Dragon's Gate: Chapters 11–19

by Laurence Yep
Set in the 1860s, this third book of the Golden Mountain Chronicles focuses on teenage Otter Young, who dreams of saving China from the destructive Manchus and British by joining his father and uncle's Great Work in America.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–10, Chapters 11–19, Chapters 20–30
40 words 11 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. subdued
    quieted and brought under control
    I was so frightened that I sought comfort in his arms as I had when I was small. “Yes, sir. I know.”
    Subdued, I followed Father to where the rest of the crew toiled.
  2. toil
    work hard
    Subdued, I followed Father to where the rest of the crew toiled.
  3. tactful
    having a sense of what is considerate in dealing with others
    “Hmm" was all Father said. I could see that he was trying hard to be tactful. “Let's try you at shoveling."
  4. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    By now, the incredulous Curly was beyond betting. "Haven't you ever carried something heavy?"
  5. mince
    walk daintily
    He began mincing about on tiptoe. "His feet never touched the dirt. Servants carried him everywhere in a chair."
  6. allay
    lessen the intensity of or calm
    He looked worried now—as if he were afraid I was too delicate for the work.
    Determined to allay his fears, I took the pole from him as if it were made of glass and squatted down so abruptly that my knees popped.
  7. compensate
    adjust for
    When I tried to straighten up, though, the rear basket rose and the front basket fell. Immediately I tried to compensate by shifting my hands farther along the pole.
  8. materialize
    come into being; become reality
    I was just taking a second dipper when Shrimp materialized at Father's elbow.
  9. hypochondriac
    a patient with imaginary symptoms and ailments
    “Shaky’s lost his mind. Honker’s a hypochondriac. Doggy’s the biggest thief in the country. Noodles would eat the bark from trees. Bright Star lives in a perpetual bog. Curly would bet that the sun will rise in the west if you gave him the right odds. No one else will work with them.”
  10. estimation
    the respect with which a person is held
    Uncle went back up in my estimation. At least he was braver with the mountain than he was with the westerners.
  11. brusquely
    in a blunt direct manner
    “Better use longer fuses,” Shrimp suggested, and brusquely shoved the workers out of his way.
  12. rapport
    a relationship of mutual understanding between people
    It's strange, but back in Three Willows anybody would be glad to have him pay attention to us—even if it was only to make small talk. However, that seemed like a century ago, back in the Middle Kingdom; and we were here now. I could see how uneasy he looked—as if he wanted to reestablish that old rapport.
  13. appeal
    request earnestly; ask for aid or protection
    “Help me,” I appealed to my father and uncle.
  14. partial
    showing favoritism
    “Don’t be harsh on Foxfire. This crew barely holds together as it is. It’ll fall apart if he’s partial to his kin.”
  15. furrow
    a slight depression in the smoothness of a surface
    He led me through the main tunnel, holding the lantern before us, and we turned into a side tunnel where I could see the double furrows of the handcarts in the slush.
  16. limn
    trace the shape of
    Snowflakes had limned the wrinkles in his face so that his features were outlined in white.
  17. formidable
    extremely impressive in strength or excellence
    And I wondered what would have happened to me there if I hadn't had Mother’s formidable protection.
  18. wistful
    showing pensive sadness
    He sounded almost wistful—as if he missed being in the classroom.
  19. pungent
    strong and sharp to the sense of taste or smell
    I thought I would test him and picked up a flake of salted fish, which is salty and pungent and not to everyone's taste, and held it out to him.
  20. gusto
    vigorous and enthusiastic enjoyment
    Sean slid his fork under my chopsticks and then transferred the salted fish to his mouth. I was impressed when he ate it with gusto.
  21. yahoo
    a person who is not intelligent or interested in culture
    “If I had listened to me da and his yahoo friends, I would have left school ages ago and let him put me to work.”
  22. relish
    vigorous and enthusiastic enjoyment
    I fished up an overcooked piece of meat that I ate with far less relish than he had shown for my supper.
  23. concede
    be willing to yield
    “Forgive the boy, Dandy. He’s so stupid, he could use his skull for a hammer.”
    “It’s probably thick enough,” Dandy conceded as he wiped at the tea on the front of his coat.
  24. rationalize
    defend, explain, or make excuses for by reasoning
    Besides, if they could lie to me, I rationalized, I could lie to them.
  25. feint
    any distracting or deceptive maneuver
    Finally the man dropped his left fist and pretended to swing his right. Sean ducked instinctively; but it was only a feint. The man whipped his left fist up, catching Sean right on the chin.
  26. undermine
    weaken or impair, especially gradually
    In five minutes you’ve destroyed our name and undermined my authority.
  27. tirade
    a speech of violent denunciation
    “You disobeyed me, didn't you?"
    “I'm sorry," I said, “but I had no choice." And I hunched my shoulders, preparing for the tirade.
  28. daguerreotype
    an early type of photograph produced on a silver plate
    He winced again as he sat up and took the picture. “’Tis a daguerreotype.” He went through several English words that I did not know; but eventually I gathered that people sat in front of a device and it captured their images onto a plate.
  29. ruefully
    in a manner expressing pain or sorrow
    “You look a lot like her.”
    “And nothing like me da,” Sean said ruefully.
  30. brigand
    an armed thief who is (usually) a member of a band
    “’Tis money that buys respect—like the brigands who own this railroad,” Sean said bitterly.
  31. sentiment
    a personal belief or judgment
    “They’re grand dreamers. Giants. If we can join California and its resources to the rest of the country, there’s no stopping America.”
    “How convenient to have a destiny,” Sean spoke in a bored voice—as if he had heard or read the sentiments often enough.
  32. novelty
    originality by virtue of being refreshingly new
    “I was thinking—” I started.
    “What a novelty,” he grunted.
  33. contemptuously
    without respect; in a disdainful manner
    Noodles glared at me contemptuously as if I had just confessed to being an ax murderer.
  34. goad
    provoke as by constant criticism
    “Hit it,” Uncle Foxfire goaded me. “Don’t pat it.”
  35. tableau
    any dramatic scene
    Then, with a shock, I realized that if some temple did add the scene, I would not be a bystander but a figure right in the middle of the tableau.
  36. blunder
    make one's way clumsily or blindly
    “Let’s see. I think the mouth of the tunnel is this way.” But we blundered right into a wall.
  37. reorient
    determine one's position once again
    Behind us, another cheer went up; and I turned to see that other men had staggered out, having finally reoriented themselves.
  38. smolder
    burn slowly and without a flame
    “Maybe one of the holes didn't go off. Or it was just smoldering. Maybe some snow got tracked in and wet the fuses somehow.”
  39. unrepentant
    not feeling or expressing remorse
    “All you think about is tunnel, tunnel, tunnel,” Uncle Foxfire said accusingly.
    Shrimp sucked in his breath sharply. “Mind your manners."
    Kilroy, however, was unrepentant.
  40. treacherous
    dangerously unstable and unpredictable
    “We’ll take it slow,” Uncle Foxfire reassured him. “The footing’s treacherous.”
Created on Thu May 09 18:32:30 EDT 2024 (updated Sat May 11 15:15:28 EDT 2024)

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