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 changed the format of dictionaries. searched literature and found more words. applied rules to make language less chaotic. selected only the most difficult words to define.
The excerpt claims that Johnson's work is significant because he:
B. searched literature and found more words.
Explanation:
<u>According to the excerpt, dictionaries were quite limited. To write one that was as complete as possible, Johnson had a lot of work. First, he began by reading books. By searching literature, he was able to add more words to the ones dictionaries had already provided him with. Then, he moved on to the difficult but certainly rewarding task of gleaning words from "living speech," which can be quite a chaotic job.</u> He did not change the format of dictionaries, he did not apply rules to make language less chaotic, nor did he select only the most difficult words to define. Therefore, the correct option is letter B.
