英语听力：Reading Dictionaries for Fun 以读字典为乐

How long would it take you to read a dictionary?

英语听力：Reading Dictionaries for Fun 以读字典为乐(ZT)

Not keen on reading? Do you have trouble finding a novel that takes your interest? Why not follow Ammon Shea’s example and start reading a dictionary?

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 English Dictionary. The dictionary contains more than 20,000 pages and over 59 million words.

As he read from A to Z, he noted down interesting words in a ledger. 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 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.

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GLOSSARY 词汇表 (收听发音, 请单击英语单词)

keen on 热爱 takes your interest 吸引你，使你感兴趣 volumes 版本，读卷 happify 使（某人）高兴 best-selling 畅销的 complex 复杂的 obscure 费解的 sake 缘故 crossword 纵横字谜 game 游戏

novel 小说 Oxford English Dictionary 牛津英语字典 ledger 分类记录本（同帐簿类似） tripudiate （兴奋得）手舞足蹈；雀跃 give them credit for 给他们的赞扬，归功于他们 fancy 华丽的；讲究的 opposed to 反对 forming 组成 Scrabble 拼字游戏 eccentric 古怪的