第一段
For the century before Johnson’s Dictionary was published in 1775,
there had been concern about the state of the English language.
There was no standard way of speaking or writing and
no agreement as to the best way of bringing some order to the chaos of English spelling.
Dr Johnson provided the solution.
词组
- as to 关于
- bring some order to 管理。。。的顺序，规范。。。
难点
- 第一句中 before 接的是一个状语从句，这个从属连词不充当成分，只表达意思。
- 最后是一个 and 连接的并列句，整段最难的部分就是这个并列句的后一部分：
There was no agreement (as to the best way) of bringing some order to (the chaos of English spelling).整句话可以翻译为： 没有关于规范英语拼写混乱的最好方式的协定。
第二段
There had, of course, been dictionaries in the past,
the first of these being a little book of some 120 pages, compiled by a certain Robert Cawdray,
published in 1604 under the title A Table Alphabeticall ‘of hard usual English words’.
Like the various dictionaries that came after it during the seventeenth century,
Cawdray’s tended to concentrate on ‘scholarly’ words;
one function of the dictionary was to enable its student to convey an impression of fine learning.
词组
- certain + 人名 表示特定的人，可以翻译为 某个叫××的人
- under the title 以。。。为标题
- enable sb to 使某人能够做某事
难点
the first of these being a little book of some 120 pages, compiled by a certain Robert Cawdray, published in 1604 under the title XXX.当看到这句话的时候，我们可以直接把,之间的 compiled by a certain Robert Cawdray 去掉，这是个分裂句的插入语，所以我们可以找到这句话的谓语但就是 'published'。其他的非谓语动词和介词短语都是用于修饰的。- that 连接一个定语从句，可以被替换成先行词 the various dictionaries。
Cawdray’s tended to concentrate on XXX这里的 ’s 其实是 was 的缩写，is/was/has 的缩写都是’s。one function of the dictionary was to enable its student to convey an impression of fine learning.这一句很难翻译，was 后面的内容就是一个非谓语动词做表语，可以翻译为：字典的功能之一是为了使其学生可以传递出博学的印象
第三段
Beyond the practical need to make order out of chaos,
the rise of dictionaries is associated with the rise of the English middle class,
who were anxious to define and circumscribe the various worlds to conquer - lexical as well as social and commercial.
It is highly appropriate that Dr Samuel Johnson,
the very model of an eighteenth-century literary man,
as famous in his own time as in ours,
should have published his Dictionary at the very beginning of the heyday of the middle class.
词组
- make order out of 使。。。有序
- rise 可以翻译为兴起
- anxious 除了有 忧虑焦虑 的意思外，还可以表示渴望的。
- circumscribe 限制
难点
Beyond (the practical need (to make order out of chaos))the practical need 是一个词组，表示现实需求，后面的动词不定式是用于修饰这个词组的。 可翻译为： 除了摆脱混乱的实际需要外who were anxious to define and circumscribe the various worlds to conquer - lexical as well as social and commercial.这是一个定语从句，先行词为 the English middle class。
后面的 to conquer 表示目的，conquer 是及物动词，这个形式也很常见，举个简单的例子，I want to borrow the book to read. 这里 to read 就是to read the book。
以破折号后面的形容词其实就是 world 的定语，它们也可以变成定语从句：who were anxious to define and circumscribe the various worlds to conquer,which are lexical as well as social and commercial. 他们渴望定义和限制各种领域以方便征服，如词汇，社会和商业。
这个短语中，"as well as" 和 "and" 都用于连接不同的概念或元素，但 "as well as" 更强调它们的并重和相互关联，而 "and" 则更侧重于表示它们的简单组合。
It is highly appropriate that Johnson should have published his Dictionary at the very beginning of the heyday of the middle class.这是一个主语从句 使用 "very" 增强了时间点的精确性和重要性。 在这个句子中，"should" 的使用表达了一种合适性或适宜性的意思，去掉变成 has published 也不会改变句子的意思。
第四段
Johnson was a poet and critic who raised common sense to the heights of genius.
His approach to the problems
that had worried writers throughout the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries
was intensely practical.
Up until his time,
the task of producing a dictionary on such a large scale had seemed impossible
without the establishment of an academy to make decisions about right and wrong usage.
词组
- common sense 常识
- Up until ××× 直到/在某个时间或期间之前。
- on such a large scale 以如此之大的规模
难点
- that had worried writers ... 是定语从句，先行词为 the problems，主干就是 His approach to the problems was intensely practical.
Johnson decided he did not need an academy to settle arguments about language;
he would write a dictionary himself; and he would do it single-handed.
Johnson signed the contract for the Dictionary with the bookseller Robert Dosley
at a breakfast held at the Golden Anchor Inn near Holborn Bar on 18 June 1764.
He was to be paid ￡1,575 in instalments,
and from this he took money to rent 17 Gough Square,
in which he set up his ‘dictionary workshop’.
词组
- in instalments 分期付款
- set up 建立
难点
He was to be paid ￡1,575 in instalments
他将被支付1575英镑的分期付款。 was to be paid 在英语中是过去将来时的被动语态。
I am to pay
$5.I will pay
$5.I am going to pay
$5.”be to do sth” 通常用来表示将来的计划、安排或命令。 它可以被视为将来时的一种形式，但与其他将来时形式（如“will do”或“be going to do”）相比，它更加正式。
2. in which he set up his ‘dictionary workshop’.
介词提前的状语从句: which he set up his ‘dictionary workshop’ in.
第五段
James Boswell, his biographer, described the garret
where Johnson worked as ‘fitted up like a counting house’
with a long desk running down the middle
at which the copying clerks would work standing up.
Johnson himself was stationed on a rickety chair at an ‘old crazy deal table’
surrounded by a chaos of borrowed books.
He was also helped by six assistants,
two of whom died whilst the Dictionary was still in preparation.
词组
- fit up 装备，布置，装修
- describe as 描述为...
- in preparation 正在准备中
难点
第一个长句中：
- his biographer 是插入语，这是一个分裂结构
- where Johnson worked 是一个地点状语从句
- as ‘fitted up like a counting house’ 是一个介词短语，as表示如同...
- with a long desk running down the middle 也是一个介词短语
- at which the copying clerks would work standing up. 介词提前的状语从句，其实应该是 work at
- The copying clerks would work standing up at the garret.
He described the garret as ‘fitted up like a counting house’.
他形容这个阁楼“装修得像个账房”。
a long desk running down the middle.
"running down the middle" 是一个现在分词短语，用作后置定语，修饰前面的名词 "desk"。
这里的 "running" 是动词 "run" 的现在分词形式，它的意思是 "延伸，伸展"。
因此，"running down the middle" 描述了桌子的位置和状态，即桌子从房间的一头延伸到另一头，位于房间的正中央。
第六段
The work was immense;
filling about eighty large notebooks (and without a library to hand),
Johnson wrote the definitions of over 40,000 words,
and illustrated their many meanings with some 114,000 quotations drawn from English writing on every subject,
from the Elizabethans to his own time.
He did not expect to achieve complete originality. Working to a deadline,
he had to draw on the best of all previous dictionaries, and to make his work one of heroic synthesis.
In fact, it was very much more.
Unlike his predecessors, Johnson treated English very practically, as a living language,
with many different shades of meaning.
He adopted his definitions on the principle of English common law-according to precedent.
After its publication, his Dictionary was not seriously rivalled for over a century.
词组
- to hand 随手可用，在手边
- draw from 从...提取，从... 得到
- draw on 1.接近，临近：指夜晚逐渐来临。 2.利用，借鉴：指从某个资源或经验中获取灵感或帮助。
- treat as 视为，把……当作
难点
Working to a deadline, he had to draw on the best of all previous dictionaries. Working to a deadline 这里现在分词的词组，可以表示原因，由于... 由于最后期限的存在，他不得不借鉴以前所有字典中的精华
Johnson treated English very practically, as a living language, with many different shades of meaning. 在后面的问题中，用了相近的一段话：It took into account subtleties of meaning. take into account 考虑，顾及 subtleties 微妙/细微处 We need to take into account the cost
第七段
After many vicissitudes the Dictionary was finally published on 15 April 1775.
It was instantly recognized as a landmark throughout Europe.
‘This very noble work,’ wrote the leading Italian lexicographer,
‘will be a perpetual monument of Fame to the Author, an Honour to his own Country in particular, and a general Benefit to the republic of Letters throughout Europe.’
The fact that Johnson had taken on the Academies of Europe and matched them
(everyone knew that forty French academics had taken forty years to produce the first French national dictionary)
was cause for much English celebration.
词组
- in particular 特别地
- take on 开始承担或处理，与……竞争
难点
最后一句中，括号中的文字就是补充内容，可以先不看。 Johnson had taken on the Academies of Europe and matched them.这个同位语从句，解释说明 The fact 这个抽象名词。 去除不重要的部分，这个句子就可以简略为： The fact was cause for much English celebration.
第八段
Johnson had worked for nine years,
‘with little assistance of the learned, and without any patronage of the great;
not in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academic bowers,
but amidst inconvenience and distraction, in sickness and in sorrow’.
For all its faults and eccentricities, his two-volume work is a masterpiece and a landmark, in his own words,
‘setting the orthography, displaying the analogy, regulating the structures,
and ascertaining the significations of English words’.
It is the cornerstone of Standard English, an achievement which,
in James Boswell’s words, ‘conferred stability on the language of his country’.
词组
- For all 尽管如此
- in one's own words 用某人自己的话来说
难点
an achievement which conferred stability on the language of his country.这里 which 接的是一个定语从句，可以用先行词an achievement 代替
第九段
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.
From then on, he was to become the Johnson of folklore.
词组
- so well 非常好
- prevail upon sb to do sth 劝说某人做某事
