You may think that English dictionaries have been used for many, many centuries. In fact, an English dictionary you (1) today wasn’t made (2) the Qing Dynasty (清朝). Three men did most of the important (3) work on dictionaries; they spent nearly all their lives trying to (4) words for their dictionaries. For them, it was a wonderful journey. The (5) dictionary in the world is Oxford English Dictionary. The (6) for this dictionary came from an important meeting in Britain in 1857. Twenty two years (7) , Oxford University asked James Murray to be the editor (编者) of its new dictionary. Murray had never been to (8) . At the age of fourteen, he left his village school in Scotland and taught himself while working in a bank. (9) he became a great teacher. After Oxford gave him the job, Murray had a small house (10)in his garden to do the work. Every morning, Murray got out of bed at five o’clock and (11) in the small house several hours before breakfast. Often he would work into the night. Murray hoped (12) the new dictionary in ten years. But after five years, he was (13) adding (增加) words for the letter “A”! He worked (14) the dictionary (15) he was very old. Forty four years later, in 1928, other editors finished the dictionary.
(1)
A. use B. write C. copy D. miss
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(2)
A. until B. after C. when D. as
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(3)
A. easy B. boring C. early D. dangerous
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(4)
A. spell B. invent C. collect D. make
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(5)
A. large B. larger C. the largest D. largest
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(6)
A. way B. idea C. use D. prize
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(7)
A. ago B. later C. later on D. before
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(8)
A. school B. cinema C. village D. college
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(9)
A. Later B. Long before C. So far D. Ever since
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(10)
A. sold B. built C. broken D. drawn
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(11)
A. read B. wrote C. worked D. thought
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(12)
A. finishing B. finish C. to finish D. him to finish