Cambridge ielts 1-15 series reading answers explained

=> ANSWER: FALSE
QUESTIONS 4-7 
4. HAVING RENTED THE GARRET, HE TOOK ON A NUMBER OF …, 
WHO STOOD AT A LONG CENTRAL DESK. 
Keywords: garret, a number of, stood, long central desk 
In paragraph 5, the first sentence, the writer says: “James Boswell, his biographer, describes the garret 
where Johnson worked as fitted up like a counting house” with a long desk running down the middle at 
which the copy clerks would work standing up.” 
– central=running down the middle 

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5 
– stood=standing up 
=> ANSWER: clerks/copy clerks
5. JOHNSON DID NOT HAVE A … AVAILABLE TO HIM, BUT 
EVENTUALLY PRODUCED DEFINITIONS OF IN EXCESS OF 40,000 
WORDS…. 
Keywords: definitions, 40,000 words 
In paragraph 6, the writer states that: (….and without a library to hand), Johnson wrote the definitions 
of over 40,000 words…. 
– in excess of=over 
=> ANSWER: library
6. ACCORDING TO HIS BIOGRAPHER, JAMES BOSWELL, JOHNSON‟S 
PRINCIPAL ACHIEVEMENT WAS TO BRING… TO THE ENGLISH 
LANGUAGE. 
Keywords: James Boswell, principal achievement, English language 
In paragraph 8, the writer says: ” It is the cornerstone of Standard English, an achievement which, in 
James Boswell‟s words, “conferred stability on the language of his country” 
=> ANSWER: stability
7. AS A REWARD FOR HIS HARD WORK, HE WAS GRANTED A … BY 
THE KING. 
Keywords : reward, his hard work, the king 
In the last paragraph, the writer says: ” The Dictionary, together with his other writing, made Johnson 
famous and so well esteemed that his friends were able to prevail upon King George III to offer him a 
pension”. 
– prevail upon= have influence in= persuade 
=> ANSWER: pension
QUESTIONS 8-13 
8. THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES LED TO AN 
INCREASED DEMAND FOR DICTIONARIES. 
Keywords: growing importance, middle classes, increased demand 
In paragraph 3, the first sentence, the writer explains : “… the rise of dictionaries is associated with 
the rise of the English middle class…. 
Associated with =closely related toð 

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6 
Rise= growing=increasedð 
=> ANSWER: TRUE
9. JOHNSON HAS BECOME MORE WELL KNOWN SINCE HIS DEATH. 
Keywords: more ,well known, his death 
In the last paragraph, the writer says: ” The Dictionary…made Johnson famous and so well esteemed 
that his friends were able to prevail upon King George III to offer him a pension. From then on, he was 
to become the Johnson of folklore.” The last paragraph tells us that Johnson became very famous after 
he finished the Dictionary and even the King gave Johnson money for the rest of his life [=a 
pension]. As a result of his fame during his lifetime, Johnson remained famous after his death and 
people continued to talk about his work [„the Johnson of folklore‟]. 
– well known=famous