Cambridge ielts 1-15 series reading answers explained

=> ANSWER: NOT GIVEN
C. IT WAS FAMOUS BECAUSE BECAUSE OF THE LARGE NUMBER OF 
PEOPLE INVOLVED 
Keywords: famous, large number , people involved 
In the last sentence of paragraph 5, the writer says: “He was also helped by six assistants, two of whom 
died whilst the Dictionary was still in preparation”. Six is not “a large number” The reasons why the 
Dictionary was famous are referred to in paragraph 8: it was “the cornerstone of Standard English”. 
=> ANSWER: FALSE
D. IT FOCUSED MAINLY ON LANGUAGE FROM CONTEMPORARY 
TEXTS 

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4 
Key words : mainly, language, contemporary texts 
In paragraph 6 , the writer states: “The work was immense…, Johnson wrote the definition of over 
40,000 words, and illustrated their many meanings with some 14,000 quotations drawn from English 
writing on every subject, from the Elizabethans to his own time.‟ contemporary = belonging to the 
same period of time/ current = to his own time 
=> ANSWER: TRUE
E. THERE WAS A TIME LIMIT FOR ITS COMPLETION 
Keywords: time limit, completion 
In paragraph 6, the writer says that Johnson was ” Working to a deadline…..” 
– time limit=deadline 
=> ANSWER: TRUE
F. IT IGNORED WORK DONE BY PREVIOUS DICTIONARIES WRITERS 
Keywords: ignored, work, previous writers 
In paragraph 6, the writer explains : “he had to draw on the best of all previous dictionaries, and to 
make his work one of heroic synthesis”, and ” He adopted his definitions on the principle of English 
common law – according to precedent” Precedent: something that may serve as an example or 
justification for subsequent situations. 
=> ANSWER: FALSE
G. IT TOOK INTO ACCOUNT SUBTLETIES OF MEANING 
In paragraph 6, the writer says: ” Johnson treated English very practically, as a living language, with 
many different shades of meaning.” So it can be inferred that Johnson must have taken into account 
subtleties of meaning in order to deal with many different shades, or small differences, of 
meaning. Subtlety (subtleties) : a fine distinction or the ability to make such a distinction 
=> ANSWER: TRUE
H. ITS DEFINITIONS WERE FAMOUS FOR THEIR ORIGINALITY 
In paragraph 6, the writer states: “He did not expect to achieve complete originality”