单选题 The first English dictionary, called an Alphabetical Table of Hard Words, was published in 1604. The dictionary was actually (26) a list of about 3 000 difficult words, each followed by a one word (27) . The author, Robert Cawdrey, (28) to include everyday words in his dictionary. (29) , he reasoned, would ever have to look up a word in a dictionary if he already knew the meaning of the word. During the 1600' s more dictionaries were published. Each followed Cawdrey' s (30) and presented a few thousand (31) words. Around 1700 one dictionary maker, John Kersey, (32) define easy words as well as hard ones. But until the 1750' s all dictionaries were rather (33) and not very valuable.
A man named Dr. Samuel Johnson (34) all this. In 1755 Dr. Johnson produced the first modern dictionary. He (35) in his dictionary all important words, both easy and hard, and he gave good meanings. He also gave good sentences to show how each word was (36) used in speech and (37) . By the end of the 1700' s most dictionary makers (38) Johnson' s lead. Dictionaries were getting better and better.
The 1800' s (39) the greatest improvement (40) the quality of dictionaries. In England scholars planned and prepared the Oxford English dictionary, a (41) work. One of the most interesting (42) of the Oxford Dictionary is its word histories. It (43) the history of each word from its earliest (44) use (45) the time of the printing of the dictionary.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[A]no less than多达，不少于；[B]much less than与…相比少得多；[C]nothing more than只不过是，仅仅是；[D]much more than与…相比多得多。本句意为：这本字典实际上(只不过)是大约 3000难词的一个清单。actually在这里起了极强的提示作用，C选项是当然之选。

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[A]made no attempt并不想尝试；[B]had trouble有麻烦；[C] took great pains不辞辛苦地；[D]tried his best尽力而为。本题四个词组存在比较大的意义差别，需通过文意来甄别。根据下文：他 (指Cawdrey)断定，如果使用者知道词义他就没必要去查阅词典。可以判断出Cawdrey并不想“把所有单词尽收其中”，所以A选项最适合。

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[A]principle原则、准则；[B]advice劝告、建议、通知；[C] regulation规则、规章；[D]lead领导、引路。四个名词似乎都能填入此空，问题在于能否与前后语境相符：each followed每一个均跟随…。此处用lead能传神地表达出Cawdrey在词典编撰史上的开山鼻祖地位。

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[A]delicate精巧、细腻；[B]complex错综复杂；[C]crude天然的、粗糙、简陋；[D]comprehensive全面、广泛、综合。根据and前后词语的对等原则，与not valuable相当只能是带有贬义色彩的 C选项crude。并且crude也与but的语气转折相对应。

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[A]satisfied使…满意，符合；[B]changed改变、转换：[C] maintained维持，维修；[D]sustained支撑、支持。Dr．Samuel Johnson这个人到底对all this干了些什么呢?由下文知道他produced the first modern dictionary，这个伟大举动应该用change all this更好的表达出来。

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】由下文的all important words，both easy and hard可以看出 [A]excluded(排除、赶出)、[B]supplemented(增补、补给)、[C] complemented(补充、补足)均不合文意。而[D]选项included(包括在内、包含)恰能表现出新词典与以前词典的显著区别。

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】本题考查副词的比较。[A]actually实际地；[B]deliberately蓄意、慎重；[C]laboriously辛勤地；[D]previously从前地。句意：单词是如何在说和写中实际应用，所以actually是比较准确的，B、 C、D三个选项填入此空均有牛头不对马嘴之嫌。

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】由年代、时间段等一些指物名词做主语，see、show、witness等动词做谓语构成英语中比较活泼的一种表达方式。本题就属于该种类型。可以翻译为：1800年代见证了词典编撰质量的巨大进步。其他三个词虽然在词义上并无重大不妥，但是与see相比仍较逊色。