Question

Read the excerpt from Samuel Johnson's preface to A Dictionary of the English Language.

I applied myself to the perusal of our writers; and noting whatever might be of use to ascertain or illustrate any word or phrase, accumulated in time the materials of a dictionary, which, by degrees, I reduced to method, establishing to myself, in the progress of the work, such rules as experience and analogy suggested to me; experience, which practice and observation were continually increasing; and analogy, which, though in some words obscure, was evident in others.


The excerpt suggests that Johnson’s work is significant because it

teaches readers how to understand analogies.
follows a method prescribed by other dictionaries.
reflects an exhaustive study of its words.
includes obscure words not previously defined.

Answer 1

reflects an exhaustive study of its words.

Johnson describes carefully reading many writers, noting material to define words, and accumulating and organizing those materials into a methodical dictionary.