In July 1915, severely tortured by his poor health, James Murray, one of the early editors of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), defined one final word. After his 36 years’ dedication to the dictionary, his hard labour had taken a toll, knowing he would not see the project complete.
The poetic quality of Murray’s final days is one of the many memorable tales in The Dictionary People. Beginning in 1857, the OED was a huge crowdsourcing project - “the Wikipedia of the 19th century” - comprising 3, 000 people. The idea was to create a “descriptive” dictionary that tracked words’ use and meaning over time, unlike its “prescriptive”18th-century predecessor by Samuel Johnson, which told readers how to say and use words. Volunteers read widely, mailing in examples of how “rare, old-fashioned, new, strange” words were used. What is surprising about this fairly random method is that it worked.
The origin story of Sarah Ogilvie’s book is almost as improbable as that of the dictionary itself. Ms Ogilvie, a former scholar who served as an editor for the OED, went into the documents of Oxford University Press and came across an old notebook. It had belonged to Murray and contained the names and details of the dictionary volunteers, most of whom had previously been unknown. The Dictionary People is her work of detective scholarship, bringing the lives behind the names to readers.
Ms Ogilvie’s book is full of intriguing stories. The presentation of the book is unconventional, too, taking its structure from the work it describes. There are 26 alphabetical chapters, each celebrating a group of contributors ( memorably, “K” is for “kleptomaniac” people who desire to steal). This is a clever arrangement, though it sometimes means that broader issues emerge only in pieces.
Essentially, this is a story about ordinary people. It is concrete proof of those who, to cite dictionary-helper George Eliot, “lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs”.
1. What does the underlined expression “taken a toll” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Paid off. |
| B．Proved in vain. |
| C．Worn out the passion. |
| D．Had a harmful effect. |
| A．It serves as an example of dictionary editing. |
| B．It provides precise directions for word usage. |
| C．It is a cooperative work of many volunteers. |
| D．It was edited with the help of Samuel Johnson. |
| A．The story behind Sarah Ogilvie’s book. |
| B．The detective methods of Sarah Ogilvie. |
| C．Legends of the early OED editors. |
| D．Murray’s role in editing the OED. |
| A．A review of a book. |
| B．A biography of an editor. |
| C．An essay on dictionary editing. |
| D．An introduction to a dictionary. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】An "apple polisher" is one who gives gifts to win friendship or special treatment.It is not exactly a bribe（贿赂）, but is close to it.
All sorts of people are apple polishers,including politicians and people in high offices—just about everybody. Oliver Cromwell,the great English leader,offered many gifts to win the support of George Fox and his party,but failed.
There are other phrases meaning the same thing as "apple-polishing"—"soft-soaping" or "butter-up".A gift is just one way to "soft-soap" somebody,or to "butter him up".Another that is just as effective is flattery,giving someone high praise—telling him how good he looks,or how well he speaks,or how talented and wise he is.
Endless are the ways of flattery.Who does not love or hear it?Only an unusual man can resist the thrill of being told how wonderful he is.In truth,flattery is good medicine for most of us,who gets so little of it.
We need it to be more sure of ourselves.It cannot hurt unless we get carried away by it.But we just lap it up for its food value and nourishment,as a cat laps up milk,then we can still remain true to ourselves.
Sometimes,however,flattery will get you nothing from one who has had too much of it.A good example is the famous 12th century legend of King Canute of Denmark and England.The king got tired of listening to the endless sickening flattery of his courtiers（朝臣）.They over-praised him to the skies,as a man of limitless power.
He decided to teach them a lesson.He took them to the seashore and sat down.Then he ordered the waves to stop coming in.The tide was too busy to listen to him.The king was satisfied.This might show his followers how weak his power was and how empty their flattery.
1. Which of the following activities has nothing to do with "apple-polishing"?| A．A boy tells his girlfriend how pretty she looks |
| B．An employee tells his boss how good he is at management |
| C．A knight is said to be of limitless power by his followers |
| D．A teacher praised his students for their hard work |
| A．he was sick of his normal |
| B．he wanted them to realize how wise he was |
| C．he did not like being over-praised any more |
| D．he wanted them to see how weak he was as a king |
| A．lack confidence | B．are really excellent |
| C．are politicians or in high offices | D．think highly of themselves |
【推荐2】Is This the Most Powerful Word in the English Language?
“The.” It’s present everywhere; we can’t imagine English without it. “The” tops the league tables of most frequently used words in English, accounting for 5% of every 100 words used. But why is this? The answer is two-fold. George Zipf, a 20th-century U. S. linguist, gave a detailed explanation of the principle of least effort.
The second reason is that “the” lies at the heart of English grammar. It has a function rather than a meaning. Words are split into two categories: expressions with a semantic (语义的) meaning and functional words like “the”, “to” and “for” that have a job to do. “The” can function in multiple ways. This is typical, explains Gary Thoms, assistant professor of linguistics at New York University.
But although “the” has no meaning in itself, “it seems to be able to do things in miraculous ways,” says Michael Rosen, a poet and author.
There are many exceptions regarding the use of the definite article (定冠词), for example in relation to proper nouns. We wouldn’t expect someone to say “the Jonathan” but it’s not incorrect to say “you’re not the Jonathan I thought you were”. And a football commentator (实况解说员) might deliberately say “you’ve got the Lampards in midfield” to mean players like Lampard.
| A．Consider the difference between “he scored a goal” and “he scored the goal” |
| B．This could lead to the belief that “the” is nothing more than a workhorse of the English language—functional but boring. |
| C．He predicted that short and simple words would be the most frequent— and he was right. |
| D．This simplest of words can be used for dramatic effect |
| E．“A super high-usage word will often develop a real flexibility,” says Thoms. |
| F．Even within the language, there are subtle differences in how “the” is used in British and American English. |
【推荐3】There are close to 7, 000 languages spoken on Earth. However, it’s estimated that by the end of this century, up to 50% of them may be lost.
It’s commonly thought that majority languages tend to be valued for being useful and for promoting progress, while minority languages are seen as barriers to progress, and the value placed on them is seen mainly as sentimental (感情用事的). But is sentimentality really the only motivation for preserving language diversity?
Speakers of endangered languages often live in remote areas with unique landform. It is quite common for these languages to distinguish between hundreds more types of plants and animals than those known to modern science. For example, in Southeast Asia, some tribes have discovered the medicinal properties of over sixty-five hundred plant species. This has led to many of landmark achievements in medicine.
It was once believed that the limits of one’s language defined the limits of one’s thought. This theory, called the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis (假说), has been largely rejected in favor of the improved version, which assumes that the language we speak does not set the limits of our thoughts, but it does direct our focus in certain ways. For example, English is a tense-based language. It’s nearly impossible to talk about doing something without specifying the time — i. e. I went to the party(past), I’m going to the party(present), or I’ll go to the party (future). This differs from Chinese, where it’s perfectly reasonable to say, “I go to the party” without defining the “when”. Thus, part of the richness of language is that it allows us to organize the world in so many unique ways.
Some languages categorize the world in ways so different from our own that they are difficult to conceptualize (概念化). The United States employed native Navajo speakers to create a system of message coding during the Second World War. The Japanese were never able to break it, and the “code talkers” are often cited today as having helped decide the outcome of the war.
As we’ve already seen, minority languages are valuable for many practical reasons. In conclusion, I’d say the short answer is yes — dying languages are certainly worth saving!
1. What do people tend to think of minority languages?| A．Valueless. | B．Time-honored. | C．Informal. | D．Stable. |
| A．We can discover drugs in a much safer way. |
| B．We don’t have to rely on modern medicine. |
| C．We can acquire a broad knowledge of nature. |
| D．We can learn how to protect plants and animals. |
| A．To correct the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis. |
| B．To prove the value of minority languages. |
| C．To show wars’ role in preserving a language. |
| D．To explain ways to conserve some languages. |
| A．Are majority languages worth valuing? |
| B．Are we willing to save dying languages? |
| C．Should endangered languages be saved? |
| D．Is the future of minority languages bright? |
【推荐1】No student of a foreign language needs to be told that gram mar is complex. By changing the order of the words and by adding a range of auxiliary verbs(助动词)and suffixes(后缀),we can turn a statement into a question, state whether an action has taken place or is soon to take place, and perform many other word tricks to convey different meanings. However, the question which many language experts can’t understand and explain is who created grammar?
Some recent languages evolved due to the Atlantic slave trade. Since the slaves didn’t know each other’s languages, they developed a make-shift language called a pidgin. Pidgins are strings of words copied from the language of the landowners. They have little in the way of grammar, and speakers need to use too many words to make their meaning understood. Interestingly, however, all it takes for a pidgin to become a complex language is for a group of children to be exposed to it at the time when they learn their mother tongue. Slave children didn’t simply copy the strings of words used by their elders. They adapted their words to create an expressive language. In this way complex grammar systems which come from pidgins were invented.
Further evidence can be seen in studying sign languages for the deaf. Sign languages are not simply a group of gestures; they use the same grammatical machinery that is found in spoken languages. The creation of one such language was documented quite recently in Nicaragua. Previously, although deaf children were taught speech and lip reading in the classrooms, in the playgrounds they began to invent their own sign system, using the gestures they used at home, It was basically a pidgin and there was no consistent grammar. However, a new system was born when children who joined the school later developed a quite different sign language. It was based on the signs of the older children, but it was shorter and easier to understand, and it had a largerange of special use of grammar to clarify the meaning. What’s more, they all used the signs in the same way. So the original pidgin was greatly improved.
Most experts believe that many of the languages were pidgins at first. They were initially used in different groups of people without standardization(标准化)and gradually evolved into a widely accepted system. The English past tense—“ed” ending — may have evolved from the verb “do”. “It ended” may once have been “ It end-did”. It seems that children have grammatical machinery in their brains. Their minds can serve to create logical and complex structures, even when there is no grammar present for them to copy.
1. What can be inferred about the slaves’ pidgin language? ________.| A．It was difficult to understand. |
| B．It came from different languages. |
| C．It was created by the landowners. |
| D．It contained highly complex grammar. |
| A．No consistent signs were used for communication. |
| B．Most of the gestures were made for everyday activities. |
| C．The hand movements were smoother and more attractive. |
| D．The meaning was clearer than the previous sign language. |
| A．English grammar of past tense system is inaccurate. |
| B．Children say English past tense differently from adults. |
| C．The thought that English was once a pidgin is acceptable. |
| D．Experts have proven that English was created by children. |
| A．in the end | B．at the beginning | C．long ago | D．long before |
| A．The Creators of Grammar |
| B．The History of Languages |
| C．Why Pidgins Came into Being |
| D．How Grammar Systems Are Used |
【推荐2】Most squirrels don’t hibernate(冬眠). Instead, they store food for the cold season and spend the winter in their nests. But the 13-lined ground squirrel, one species of squirrel in the U.S. Midwest, is not the case. For up to 8 months, the tiny mammals won’t eat or drink anything at all and the heart rate, metabolism(新陈代谢), and body temperature dramatically drop during their long rest, which is similar to bears and other hibernating animals.
To find out how the hibernating squirrels hold back their thirst, a powerful force that could potentially wake them up, and researchers measured the blood fluid of dozens of squirrels. Generally, a high blood concentration(血液浓度) makes animals, including humans, feel thirty. The sleeping squirrels' blood concentration was low, preventing them from waking up for a drink. Even when researchers woke up the torpid squirrels, they wouldn’t drink a drop until the team artificially increased the concentration of their blood serum.
Next, the researchers wanted to know how the squirrels’ blood concentration dropped so low. Perhaps the squirrels drank a lot of water before hibernation to dilute(稀释) their blood, the researchers thought. But when they filmed squirrels preparing for their winter snooze, they found the animals actually drank less water than they normally did.
Instead, chemical tests revealed the squirrels regulate their blood concentration by getting rid of electrolytes(电解质)like sodium and other chemicals like glucose and urea and storing them elsewhere in the body (possibly in the bladder), the researchers reported last month in Current Biology. The finding could also explain how other hibernating animals stay containing water.
This new knowledge might one day help humans with conditions such as diabetes(糖尿病), or astronauts who have launched on long space flights. Unfortunately, even if people can figure out how to drop their blood concentration, it’s unlikely they’ll ever be as cute as sleeping squirrels.
1. What do we know about the 13-lined ground squirrels?| A．They don’t hibernate like many other squirrels. |
| B．They are endangered species in the U. S. Midwest. |
| C．They can live for months without water during hibernation. |
| D．Their heart rule and body temperature are extremely abnormal. |
| A．high blood concentration | B．low blood concentration |
| C．low body temperature | D．high heart rate |
| A．Drinking much water before hibernation |
| B．Not eating anything during hibernation |
| C．Drinking less water than they normally do |
| D．Removing certain chemicals and storing them somewhere |
| A．Objective | B．Positive |
| C．Disappointing | D．Uncaring |
【推荐3】A simple gesture can be formed into a child’s memory so quickly that it will cause the child to give a false answer to a question along with that gesture. A new finding suggests that parents, social workers, psychologists and lawyers should be careful with their hands as well as their words.
While memories of both adults and children are easy to react to suggestion, those of children are known to be particularly influenced, said lead researcher Sara Broaders of Northwestern University. Kids are used to looking to adults to tell events for them and can be misled even if not intentionally.
Previous research, for example, has shown that detail-loaded questions often cause false answers; when asked, say “Did you drink juice at the picnic?” the child is likely to say “yes” even if no juice had been available. It is not that the child is consciously lying, but rather the detail is quickly formed into his or her memory.
To avoid this problem, social workers have long been advised to ask children only open-ended questions, such as “What did you have at the picnic?” But an open-ended question paired with a gesture, briefly meaning a juice box, is treated like a detailed question. That is, children become likely to answer falsely.
And it isn’t just a few kids: 77% of children gave at least one piece of false information when a detail was suggested by an ordinary gesture. Gestures may also become more popular when talking with non-fluent language users, such as little kids, Broaders said as hand movements can impart meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases. “It certainly seems reasonable that adults would gesture more with children.”
In general, Broaders advises parents and other adults to “try to be aware of your hands when questioning a child about an event. Otherwise, you might be getting answers that don’t reflect what actually happened.”
1. What can we know about gestures from the text?| A．They are rarely used by people. | B．They have not any function at all. |
| C．They have certain effect on children. | D．They are often used by social workers. |
| A．Children are easy to tell lies. | B．These gestures are very attractive. |
| C．These gestures are used frequently. | D．Children’s memories are affected easily. |
| A．Where are you going Lucy? | B．What will you have for lunch? |
| C．Did you see anything else last night? | D．Did you cheat in the last English examination? |
| A．Tell apart. | B．Pass on. | C．Mix up. | D．Break up. |
