Johnson’s Dictionary Reading Answers

1 Answer: D

Question type: Multiple Choice Question 

Answer location: Paragraph 6

Answer explanation: In paragraph 6, the writer says, “The work was immense; filling about eighty large notebooks 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 (contemporary).” This line, when paraphrased, matches with the statement “It focused mainly on language from contemporary texts.” Hence, the answer is D (It focused mainly on language from contemporary texts). 

2 Answer: E

Question type: Multiple Choice Question 

Answer location: Paragraph 6

Answer explanation: In paragraph 6, the lines, “He did not expect to achieve complete originality. Working to a deadline (which means that he had a time limit to complete his work), he had to draw on the best of all previous dictionaries, and to make his work one of heroic synthesis.”  This line, when paraphrased, matches with the statement “There was a time limit for its completion.” Hence, the answer is E (There was a time limit for its completion). 

3 Answer: G

Question type: Multiple Choice Question 

Answer location: Paragraph 6

Answer explanation: In paragraph 6, it is given that “…Unlike his predecessors, Johnson treated English very practically, as a living language, with many different shades of meaning (Johnson included all subtleties of word meanings when he wrote his work).” This line, when paraphrased, matches with the statement, “It took into account subtleties of meaning.” Hence, the answer is G (It took into account subtleties of meaning).

4 Answer: copying clerks 

Question type: Summary Completion 

Answer location: Paragraph 4 

Answer explanation: At the end of paragraph 4, the author writes,’ Johnson signed the contract for the dictionary (Dr Johnson accepted the contract) with bookseller Robert Dosley at a breakfast held at golden anchor inn near Holbom baron 18th June 1764.’  He rented 17 Gough Square with the contract money of £ 1.575 which was paid in instalments and set up his ‘dictionary workshop’. At the beginning of paragraph 5, the author says, “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 (that is, the clerks, whom Johnson took on, used to stand and work at the long table).” Hence, the answer is ‘copying clerks’.

5 Answer: Library 

Question type: Summary Completion 

Answer location: Paragraph 6

Answer explanation: In paragraph 6, at the beginning of the paragraph, the author says, “The work (which refers to the dictionary) was immense; filling about eighty large notebooks (and without a library to hand). Johnson not only wrote the definitions of over 40,000 words but also illustrated their many meanings with some 14,000 quotations drawn from English writing on every subject, from the Elizabethans to his own time.” This means that Johnson did not have the facility of a library available to him and yet, he filled 80 notebooks with a collection of more than 40,000 words. Hence, the answer is ‘library’.

6 Answer: Stability 

Question type: Summary Completion 

Answer location: Paragraph 7 – 8

Answer explanation:  In the beginning of paragraph 7, the writer says,” After many vicissitudes the Dictionary was finally published on 15 April 1775. It was instantly recognised  (immediately hailed) as a landmark throughout Europe (many European countries accepted it as a landmark).” Further, in the last sentence of paragraph 8, we find that the author quotes James Boswell and  mentions that ‘It is the corner-stone of Standard English, an achievement which, in James Boswell’s words (according to Johnson’s biographer, James Boswell),‘conferred (bring) stability on the language of his country‘ (his country is England and the language of England is English).’. This means that the main reason for the dictionary being a landmark work was that it brought stability to the English language. Hence, the answer is stability.

7 Answer: Pension 

Question type: Summary Completion 

Answer location: Paragraph 9

Answer explanation: The first sentence of paragraph 9 states that The Dictionary, together with his other writing, made Johnson famous and well esteemed. As a result, his friends were able to influence (prevail upon) King George III to grant (offer) him a pension. Hence, the answer is pension.

8 Answer: True 

Question type: True/False/Not Given 

Answer location: Paragraph 3

Answer explanation: The first sentence of paragraph 3 points out that the rise of dictionaries, or, increased demand for dictionaries, is associated with the rise of the English middle class (growing importance of the middle classes), who were anxious to define and circumscribe the various worlds to conquer – lexical as well as social and commercial. This is paraphrased in the statement as, “The growing importance of the middle class led to an increased demand for dictionaries.” Hence, the answer is TRUE. 

9 Answer: False 

Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 3

Answer explanation: In paragraph 3, it is given that it is highly appropriate that Dr Samuel Johnson, the very model of an eighteenth-century literary man, as famous in his own time as in ours, should have published his dictionary at the very beginning of the heyday of the middle class. This means that he was renowned during his time and remained so even after his death. So, his popularity did not decrease even today. The statement in the question is given as, “Johnson has become more widely known since his death.” This contradicts the information given in the text. Hence, the answer is FALSE.  

10 Answer: Not Given 

Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 4

Answer explanation: In paragraph 4, it is pointed out that up until his time, the task of producing a dictionary on such a large scale had seemed impossible without the establishment of an academy to make decisions about right and wrong usage. 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 signed the contract for the Dictionary with the bookseller Robert Dosley at a breakfast held at the Golden Anchor Inn near Holbom Bar on 18 June 1764. Although there is a mention of his decision to take up the creation of a dictionary, there is no reference whether he had been planning to write a dictionary for several years. Hence, the answer is NOT GIVEN. 

11 Answer: False 

Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 4

Answer explanation: At the end of paragraph 4, the author writes that after Johnson signed the contract for the Dictionary with the bookseller Robert Dosley at the Golden Anchor Inn near Holbom Bar on 18 June 1764, he was to be paid £ 1.575 in instalments. He took this money to rent 17 Gough Square, in which he set up his ‘dictionary workshop‘. So, he set up a workshop with a long desk running down the middle, but did not establish any academy. The statement – “Johnson set up an Academy to help with the writing of his dictionary.” – contradicts the information given in the text. Hence, the answer is FALSE. 

12 Answer: False  

Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 4

Answer explanation: At the end of paragraph 4, the author brings out the fact that when Johnson signed the contract for the Dictionary with the bookseller Robert Dosley held at the Golden Anchor Inn near Holbom Bar on 18 June 1764, it was decided that he would be paid £ 1.575 in instalments. Moreover, it is also added that Johnson used a part of this money to rent 17 Gough Square, in which he set up his ‘dictionary workshop’. This proves that he was paid part of the whole amount even before he had completed the work of the dictionary. The statement in the question – “Johnson only received payment for his dictionary on its completion.” – contradicts the information given in the text. Hence, the answer is FALSE.

13 Answer: True

Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 5

Answer explanation: The concluding sentence of paragraph 5 informs us that Johnson was helped by six assistants, two of whom died whilst the Dictionary was still in preparation. So, two of them did not survive to see the publication of the Dictionary. Hence, the answer is TRUE.