Sentence:  Mr. Wormwood switched on the television. The screen lit up. The programme blared. Mr Wormwood glared at Matilda. She hadn't moved. She had somehow trained herself by now to block her ears to the ghastly sound of the dreaded <WSD>box</WSD>. She kept right on reading, and for some reason this infuriated the father. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  "Preceded by" '''(the)''': television.