Word Meaning in the Preface to A Dictionary of the English Language — Quiz
Question 16 • English Language Arts 12
Read the excerpt from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . But to COLLECT the WORDS of our language was a task of greater difficulty: the deficiency of dictionaries was immediately apparent; and when they were exhausted, what was yet wanting must be sought by fortuitous and unguided excursions into books, and gleaned as industry should find, or chance should offer it, in the boundless chaos of a living speech. My search, however, has been either skilful or lucky; for I have much augmented the vocabulary. The excerpt claims that Johnson’s work is significant because he
Answer
A
applied rules to make language less chaotic.
B
changed the format of dictionaries.
C
searched literature and found more words.
D
selected only the most difficult words to define.
Explanation
Johnson says that existing dictionaries were deficient, so he searched through books for words that were missing. He explains that this effort “much augmented the vocabulary,” meaning he added many words to the dictionary. Therefore, his work was significant because he searched literature and found more words.
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