

                ****  PC Dictionary (V. 3.2) ****

         (C) Copyright 1990-96 by Edicom Systems.  Allrights
             reserved.

                           HELP

  1. A Quick Tutorial

      A. To search for a word: (1) use keyboard or mouse to enter
         the first few letters (four is suggested) of the word and
         click 'OK' or press 'Enter'; (2) click 'Pg Dn' to page
         through the text until the target word is reached.

      B. You may use the 'Paste' button to enter the first few
         letters from other applications, such as Notepad.  However,
         you must mark and copy portion of the text from the other
         application first.  Click 'OK' to proceed as A.

      C. To print a word/definitions: (1) click 'Print'; (2) select
         the numerical letter preceding the word/definitions; you
         can print a word/definitions only when it is displayed.
         Make sure your printer is ready.

      D. To quit: click 'Quit'.




  2. Features of PC Dictionary for Windows


         *  Comprehensive Data Base:  The PC DICTIONARY has
            over 64,000  most frequently  look-up words with
            concise definitions.  It also has a list of  800
            word parts that wll allow you to unlock  the
            meanings of 40,000 related words  that are derived
            from these parts.


         *  Menu Driven:  The PC DICTIONARY is  fully  menu
            driven.   All you need to do is "load and go".  It
            enables  you to  get access to words/definitions
            with a few keystrokes.  You need only to enter the
            first few letters of the word.

         *  An Ideal Tool to Prepare Word Lists:   You can se-
            lect  the  displayed words for  printing  with two
            keystrokes.  This  can  save you up to  95% of the
            time required  to prepare word lists by the tradi-
            tional method of longhand writing or typing.

         *  An Excellent Tool to  Prepare for  SAT,  ACT, GRE,
            and any  Civil  Placement  Test:  PC DICTIONARY
            is designed specifically for these purposes. It is
            also a good tool for school, office,  and home use
            -- whenever you need to get access to words.

         *  Average Response Time: 0.4 second.

         *  Memory Requirement: 128 KB.

         *  System Requirements:  PC 386 or higher, with
            one hard disk drive; Win 3.x or Win95.

         *  Recommended by  the National Library Services  for
            the Blind and Physically Handicapped.


Appendix A.

      Printed vs. Computerized Dictionary
          (or "Why PC DICTIONARY?")

  Why not use a regular printed dictionary? If all you want
to do is look up one or two words, that might be okay. How-
ever, PC DICTIONARY has a number of  features  that make
it faster, easier and more practical to use for  vocabulary
improvement - and word power can give you a winning edge in
many areas of your life.
 Since the purpose of a regular printed unabridged diction-
ary is to record  the  historical  usages and  meanings  of
words, including obsolete ones, it is a museum of words ra-
ther than a useful tool for an  average modern-day  reader.
PC DICTIONARY provides  concise definitions and can help
the user remember words or prepare word lists for  examina-
tions.
  Since PC DICTIONARY has the capability to  print  out,
it can replace a very expensive and space-consuming Braille
dictionary for the  sightless  that have a PC and a Braille
printer.

Word Roots

  PC DICTIONARY  provides  extensive  word root  defini-
tions.  About 95% of  English words are derived directly or
indirectly from Latin and Greek,  which are word-root-based
languages that used word roots to represent  pictures  5000
years ago.  Just as a picture is worth 1000 words, studying
words by referring to their word roots  offers a  great ad-
vantage.
  Linguistic studies have shown that a person can  signifi-
cantly improve his verbal  skills by  mastering  about  200
word roots. Unfortunately, most dictionaries list word ori-
gins in the form of Latin or Greek words, which are obscure
to most readers, rather than the actual word roots.
  PC DICTIONARY uses  word roots  extensively.  Although
every word definition is not based on a word root,  PC DIC-
TIONARY uses about 650 word roots and 150 prefixes. Con-
cise definitions,  sense-development, and examples of words
are presented in each entry.  Individual word root  defini-
tions are provided where appropriate. Great effort has been
made to bridge the meanings of the root and the word.  This
enables the user to harness the power of word roots without
any knowledge of Latin or Greek.


Word Power

  Word power plays an important role in  many areas of your
life.  It is essential that you  enhance  your  word power.
Studies show  that a person can  significantly  improve his
or her scores on verbal tests by  mastering  about 200 word
parts and 800 important words.
  The importance of word power can be confirmed by the fol-
lowing statements of some well known scholars:
  "Vocabulary  is  the best  single  indication of intelli-
gence." - Dr. Lewis E. Terman, who devised the famous Stan-
ford-Binet IQ test.
  "An extensive knowledge of English words accompanies out-
standing success in this country more often than any  other
characteristics which  the Human Engineering Laboratory can
isolate and measure." -  Mr. Johnson O'Conner,  Director of
Human Engineering Laboratory, Stevens Institute of  Techno-
logy, Hoboken, New Jersey.
  "In colleges research  has long since shown that the stu-
dents with  high vocabulary  ratings  get  better  marks in
every subject, even including mathematics and engineering."
- Dr. Wilfred Funk, who established the "Word Power" column
for the Readers Digest.

Verbal Test Preparation

  Almost all colleges and  universities require students to
take a verbal test,  such as ACT  (American College Testing
Program) or  SAT  (Scholastic Aptitude Test) as partial re-
quirement for admission.  When  a  student graduates from a
college and applies for  admission to a graduate school, he
needs to  take another verbal  test,  such as GRE (Graduate
Record Examination.)  If he decides to apply for a position
with a government  agency  (municipal, state, or  federal),
he will be asked to  take a  placement test to  demonstrate
his verbal skills.
  A good computerized dictionary can help prepare for these
tests, if it has the capability to print out  the  selected
group of words with definitions. PC DICTIONARY does this.

Blind PC Users

  The recent development in speech synthesizers and Braille
printers has made it possible for many of the  1.4  million
blind people in this country to perform office  work effec-
tively. PC Dictionary is designed to be  compatible with
most software systems that  drive  speech  synthesizers and
Braille printers.


Appendix B.

     Word Power Challenge

 The following is a list of 20 power words with important word
roots. How many of them do you know? Take a challenge and test
yourself. The definitions are excerpted from PC DICTIONARY.
(Time limit: 10 minutes.)

   ambivalence    ameliorate     amicable       assiduous
   commiserate    conspicuous    dearth         debilitate
   decadence      deprecate      derogatory     despot
   devious        querulous      recalcitrant   repudiate
   repugnant      reticent       trepidation    voracious

Definitions:

ambivalence  n. Condition of having two conflicting feelings about
             something. (ambi -: both.) (val -: to be strong.)

ameliorate   v. To relieve, as from pain or hardship; to make better.
             (a -: to.) (mele -: better.)

amicable     adj. Friendly; peaceful. (am -: friendly; a friend.)

assiduous    adj. Diligent; devoted; attentive. (assiduity, n.)
             (as - or ad -: to.) (sid -: to sit.)

commiserate  v. To pity. (com -: with.) (miser -: to feel pity.)

conspicuous  adj. Clearly visible; remarkable; outstanding. (con -:
             together.) (spic -: to see.)

dearth       n. Scarcity; lack; dearness. (dear -: precious.)

debilitate   v. To weaken; to make feeble. (de -: away.) (bil -, var.
             of bal -: strong; strength.)

decadence    n. A process of deterioration; decline; decay.
             (decadent, adj.) (de -: down.) (cad -: to fall.)

deprecate    v. To plead against; to express disapproval of.  (de -:
             away.) (precat -: to pray.)

derogatory   adj. Degrading; disparaging. (de -: away.) (roga -: to ask.)

despot       n. An absolute monarch. (var. of demspot -.) (dems -:
             house; a tribe.) (pot -: power; master.)

devious      adj. Out of the regular track; tricky; roundabout.
             (de -: off.)  (vi -, var. of via -: a way.)

querulous    adj. Habitually complaining; faultfinding. (quer -:
             to seek.)

recalcitrant adj. Not complying; difficult to manage. (recalcitrate,
             v.) (re -: back.) (calcitra -: to kick.)

repudiate    v. To refuse to acknowledge; to disavow. (re -: back.)
             (pud -, var. of ped -: foot; to push with foot.)

repugnant    adj. Offensive to taste or feeling; disgusting.
             (re -: back.) (pugn -: to fight; to oppose.)

reticent     adj. Reserved; not communicative; inclined to be silent.
             (re -: again.) (tice - or tace -: to be silent.)

trepidation  n. Nervous uncertainty of feeling; alarm. (trep -:
             to tremble.)  (tre - or ter -: to be frighten.)

voracious    adj. Eating with greediness; greedy. (vor -: to eat;
             to devour.)

rating:

   10 to 12: very good;
   13 to 17: excellent;
   18 to 20: outstanding.



       *** Other Software Products from Edicom Systems *****

       1. Power Typing for Windows:
          -- A typing tutor/game with 15 skill-levels and 3 reports.
          Designed to help the users master touch typing skill at
          their own pace; includes a typing game thaat makes typing
          fun and challenging;  used in hundreds of schools and PC
          training centers.

          URL of the shareware version:
            ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win3/edu/p_type40.zip
           http://www.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win3/edu/p_type40.zip


       2. Power Vocabulary:
          -- With a list of 800 word-parts and 2,400 most-tested
          words, used in verbal tests of SAT, ACT, GRE, this is
          a must have for all high school students.  It allows the
          users to review word lists and take tests on vocabulary.

          URL of the shareware version:
            ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win3/edu/p_word30.zip
           http://www.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win3/edu/p_word30.zip
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