时间:2019-02-13 作者:英语课 分类:英语听力精选进阶版


英语课

Reading Dictionaries for Fun 以读字典为乐


Mr Shea owns over 1,000 dictionaries and he likes to read them for fun.


He recently spent a year reading all 20 volumes of the Oxford 1 English Dictionary. The dictionary contains more than 20,000 pages and over 59 million words.


As he read from A to Z, he noted 2 down interesting words in a ledger 3. This includes words such as happify, meaning to make someone happy, and tripudiate which means to dance, skip or leap for joy.


Mr Shea also kept a diary about his experience which has since been turned into a best-selling book.


Why did he do this?


He claims it was fun: "I’ve always enjoyed reading dictionaries, they are far more interesting than people give them credit for."


It appears that it was not his goal to sound more intelligent through learning and using larger and more complex words.


"I’m not against big words or fancy or obscure words, but I’m opposed to using them for their own sake," he said.


In fact, as a result of reading so many words, Mr Shea often forgot his everyday vocabulary. He wrote, "My head was so full of words that I often had trouble forming simple sentences."


Mr Shea is not alone in his love of reading dictionaries. Elaine Higgleton, a representative of Collins Cobuild dictionaries, explained that thousands of crossword 4 and Scrabble fans read dictionaries for fun and to improve their game.


Ms Higgleton did however note that, "It’s probably not the best way to learn English, and you’d learn more than you need."


It is not known how many of the 59 million words Mr Shea has remembered but he has certainly made history with his eccentric hobby.


GLOSSARY 词汇表


keen on 热爱


novel 小说


takes your interest 吸引你,使你感兴趣


Oxford English Dictionary 牛津英语字典


volumes 版本,读卷


ledger 分类记录本(同帐簿类似)


happify 使(某人)高兴


tripudiate (兴奋得)手舞足蹈;雀跃


best-selling 畅销的


give them credit for 给他们的赞扬,归功于他们


complex 复杂的


fancy 华丽的;讲究的


obscure 费解的


opposed to 反对


sake 缘故


forming 组成


crossword 纵横字谜


Scrabble 拼字游戏


game 游戏


eccentric 古怪的



n.牛津(英国城市)
  • At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
  • This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。
adj.著名的,知名的
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
n.总帐,分类帐;帐簿
  • The young man bowed his head and bent over his ledger again.那个年轻人点头应诺,然后又埋头写起分类帐。
  • She is a real accountant who even keeps a detailed household ledger.她不愧是搞财务的,家庭分类账记得清楚详细。
n.纵横字谜,纵横填字游戏
  • He shows a great interest in crossword puzzles.他对填字游戏表现出很大兴趣。
  • Don't chuck yesterday's paper out.I still haven't done the crossword.别扔了昨天的报纸,我还没做字谜游戏呢。
学英语单词
absolute-value computer
acetylobeside
aecia
al majmaah (majmaa)
alanin
ANCT
azimuth rate circuit
be horrified
beef jerky
black chestnut
Bockwurst
bulb-tubulating machine
bull-dike
cafe m?ller
cast syndrome
chasing
chrysosoma apicatum
clearce certificate
clearies
coatprotein
cognitive behavioral therapy
college-bred
congovirus
conjugate surface
contribution of property
cooperative emission
counterstimulation
covalent semi-conductor
day blind
deinonychus
duis
electropherography
foulzie
G/NR
genus Sesamum
glass to metal seal
great snipes
grest
have a foot in the dish
hydrogen boiling point
iorio
jagged-edges
Kimberley Ra.
LCT,L.C.T.
limited monarchies
link saddle pin
make an experiment upon
media-business
medical relief
mignon lamp
mode stripper
monacrin
monoclinic clinoprism
monoterpenes
necrosin
net of indirect tax
nip in bud
Nitoman
nonovergrown
nonresearched
notes and bills receivable discounted
Nucleus centralis lateralis
nugations
open-delta connection
overdraft by outport banks
Peng Dehuai
picojoules
population cross moments
pretranscription
proboscis worm
profondement
prolan B
protected procedure
pyosepticemia
rate of rainall
recession of ocular muscle
reciprocal innervation
reclamation scheme
recycling plants
removable bottom hole choke
saithes
scirtothrips acus
selenoaldehydes
seminary libraries
spedee
squareface
standard pyrheliometer
statutory period
Sternberg
stomatogenous meridian
subport attribute
substitute characte
suprabasals
tectono-eustasy
teloisodisomic
turn the wick up down
un-foundation
UNAMIR
where were you
white park cattle
Worgok
Wortel