Johnson’s Dictionary — IELTS Reading Answers

“Johnson wrote the definitions of over 40,000 words, and illustrated their many meanings with some 114,000 quotations drawn from English writing on every subject, from the Elizabethans to his own time. He did not expect to achieve complete originality.”

D, E and G fit: Johnson used some 114,000 quotations, drew on the best previous dictionaries, and treated English as a living language with many shades of meaning.

“James Boswell, his biographer, described the garret where Johnson worked as 'fitted up like a counting house' with a long desk running down the middle at which the copying clerks would work standing up”

The gap needs the people working at the desk: Boswell describes 'the copying clerks' who worked standing up in the garret.

“The work was immense; filling about eighty large notebooks (and without a library to hand), Johnson wrote the definitions of over 40,000 words, and illustrated their many meanings with some 114,000 quotations drawn from English writing on every subject, from the Elizabethans to his own time”

The gap needs what Johnson lacked: 'without a library to hand', he wrote definitions of over 40,000 words.

“It is the cornerstone of Standard English, an achievement which, in James Boswell's words, 'conferred stability on the language of his country'”

The gap needs what the Dictionary conferred: Boswell said it 'conferred stability on the language of his country'.

“The Dictionary, together with his other writing, made Johnson famous and so well esteemed that his friends were able to prevail upon King George III to offer him a pension”

The gap needs the royal reward: friends persuaded King George III 'to offer him a pension'.

The growing importance of the middle classes led to an increased demand for dictionaries.

“Beyond the practical need to make order out of chaos, the rise of dictionaries is associated with the rise of the English middle class, who were anxious to define and circumscribe the various worlds to conquer - lexical as well as social and commercial”

Rise of dictionaries 'is associated with the rise of the English middle class', who wanted to define their worlds, supporting the link to demand.

Johnson has become more well known since his death.

“as famous in his own time as in ours”

Johnson was 'as famous in his own time as in ours', so his fame has not grown since his death.

Johnson had been planning to write a dictionary for several years.

“Johnson signed the contract for the Dictionary with the bookseller Robert Dosley at a breakfast held at the Golden Anchor Inn near Holborn Bar on 18 June 1764”

The contract date is given, but the passage never says Johnson had been planning a dictionary for several years beforehand.

Johnson set up an academy to help with the writing of his Dictionary.

“Johnson decided he did not need an academy to settle arguments about language; he would write a dictionary himself; and he would do it single-handed”

Johnson 'decided he did not need an academy', preferring to write the dictionary 'single-handed', so he set none up.

Johnson only received payment for his Dictionary on its completion.

“He was to be paid £1,575 in instalments, and from this he took money to rent 17 Gough Square, in which he set up his 'dictionary workshop'”

He was 'to be paid £1,575 in instalments', meaning payment came before completion, not only afterwards.

Not all of the assistants survived to see the publication of the Dictionary.

“He was also helped by six assistants, two of whom died whilst the Dictionary was still in preparation”

'Two of the six assistants died whilst the Dictionary was still in preparation', so not all survived to publication.