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Many students want to know the differences between American English and British English. Written English
is more or less the same in both Britain and America, though there are some spelling differences. For example,
the words colour, centre and travelled are spelt color, center, and traveled in American English.
The differences in the spoken language are greater. For example, Americans say dance /dns/, and in southern
England they say /da:ns/. In America, they pronounce not./nt/, in southern England they say /not/. However,
most of the time, people from the two countries do not have any difficulty in understanding each other.
How did these differences come from? There is no quick answer to this question. When people from England
travelled to other countries they took the English language with them. At first, the language stayed the same as
the language used in Britain, but slowly the language began to change from one part of the world.
Sometimes, the English spoken in America or Canada or Australia changed, but sometimes the language
spoken in these places stayed the same while the language in England changed. For example, 300 years ago, the
English talked about "autumn". But Americans still talk about "fall" just as people do in some parts of western
England. In the same way Americans use the expression "I guess" (meaning "I think") just as the British did 300
years ago.
A great many words and expressions have come into the language from American English, for example
movie, gas, store, mail, right away (at once), way of life and so on.
American English has changed over the centuries, too. There are several reasons for this. One of the reasons
is that people travelled to America from all the European countries and from other parts of the world, too. They
started to use English, but they also brought in some words from old French. One of the States in the USA is
called "Florida". In Spanish this is "the land of flowers". There are a great many American Indian words, for
example, "to howl" means "to cry". And "cookbook" is a German word.
( )1. There are some differences between British and American English. So people from the two countries
can hardly understand each other when talking to each other.
( )2. As time goes by, the English language stays the same.
( )3. Americans usually use "fall" instead of "autumn" when they talk about the seasons.
( )4. "Florida" means"the land of flowers" in American English.
( )5. People who travel to the USA add more words to American English.
根据文章内容，回答下列问题。
6. Which of the following words belongs to British English: movie, gas, mail or petrol?
_______________________________________________________________________________
7. Please give the American way of spelling of the following words: colourful, metre and traveller.
_______________________________________________________________________________
根据英文释义填写适当的单词，单词首字母已给出。
| 1 | l________________ | adj． | free, not tied up |
| 2 | c________________ | n． | piece of material hung to cover a window |
| 3 | p________________ | n | word for gas in British English |
| 4 | g________________ | adv． | not sudden; in a gradual way |
| 5 | a________________ | adv． | in fact |
| 6 | d________________ | adj． | of the home, or family not foreign or international |
| 7 | s________________ | adj． | having skill, skillful |
| 8 | p________________ | n． | an amount of money paid regularly by the government or a company to a person who has retired． |
| 9 | l________________ | n． | （food）left, unwanted/not sold |
| 10 | t________________ | vi． | （a company or plant）becomes very strong ,successful |
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I came across quite a few language problems while on holiday with my family last summer. The most embarrassing was when my Mom apologized to the people we were staying with because her “pants were dirty”. They looked at her in amazement, not knowing how to react. You see, Mom had fallen over and gotten mud on her jeans. But in Britain, “pants” means underpants, not trousers as it does back home.
Katie — From America
When I asked for the “restroom” in a big department store, people kept directing me to a room with seats where I could sit and “rest”. It took me years to get through to someone that I only wanted the toilet!
Tom — From America
Last summer we went on a two-week family touring holiday, so Dad hired a car over the Internet. This was an old vehicle and there turned out to be lots of things wrong with it. When he phoned the hire company and tried to explain that the lock on the boot(汽车行李箱) was broken, they thought he was talking about footwear! He had no idea their word for “boot” was “trunk”. In the end we went to a garage and just solved the problem.
Mary — From Britain
Last summer, I went to stay with a friend on the west coast. Her flat was on the first floor of a high-rise building so I got the lift up. Then I wandered round for ages looking for her flat but couldn’t find it. Fed up and tired, I finally had to go out to find a phone box. She explained that her flat was on the first floor, which for me meant the ground floor.
David — From Britain
【小题1】Hearing Katie’s mother’s words, Katie’s friends were in amazement because ____________.
| A．they mistook “pants” in American for underpants |
| B．Katie’s mother’s underpants were dirty |
| C．Katie’s mother got mud on her jeans |
| D．they didn’t know any English |
| A．phone the police for help | B．apologize for his being late |
| C．tell his friends he couldn’t go to visit her | D．phone his friend for help |
| A．he wanted a chair | B．he wanted to have a rest |
| C．he wanted the toilet | D．He wanted to go to a department store |
| A．a parking place | B．a car | C．a place to repair cars | D．a gas station |
| A．Pants | B． Restroom | C．Ground floor | D．Trunk |
I came across quite a few language problems while on holiday with my family last summer. The most embarrassing was when my Mom apologized to the people we were staying with because her “pants were dirty”. They looked at her in amazement, not knowing how to react. You see, Mom had fallen over and gotten mud on her jeans. But in Britain, “pants” means underpants, not trousers as it does back home.
Katie — From America
When I asked for the “restroom” in a big department store, people kept directing me to a room with seats where I could sit and “rest”. It took me years to get through to someone that I only wanted the toilet!
Tom — From America
Last summer we went on a two-week family touring holiday, so Dad hired a car over the Internet. This was an old vehicle and there turned out to be lots of things wrong with it. When he phoned the hire company and tried to explain that the lock on the boot(汽车行李箱) was broken, they thought he was talking about footwear! He had no idea their word for “boot” was “trunk”. In the end we went to a garage and just solved the problem.
Mary — From Britain
Last summer, I went to stay with a friend on the west coast. Her flat was on the first floor of a high-rise building so I got the lift up. Then I wandered round for ages looking for her flat but couldn’t find it. Fed up and tired, I finally had to go out to find a phone box. She explained that her flat was on the first floor, which for me meant the ground floor.
David — From Britain
- 1.
Hearing Katie’s mother’s words, Katie’s friends were in amazement because ____________
- A.they mistook “pants” in American for underpants
- B.Katie’s mother’s underpants were dirty
- C.Katie’s mother got mud on her jeans
- D.they didn’t know any English
- A.
- 2.
David went out to find a phone box to ____________
- A.phone the police for help
- B.apologize for his being late
- C.tell his friends he couldn’t go to visit her
- D.phone his friend for help
- A.
- 3.
When Tom asked for the “restroom”, the people around him thought _____________
- A.he wanted a chair
- B.he wanted to have a rest
- C.he wanted the toilet
- D.He wanted to go to a department store
- A.
- 4.
The underlined word “garage” is probably _____________
- A.a parking place
- B.a car
- C.a place to repair cars
- D.a gas station
- A.
- 5.
Which of the following words is from British English？
- A.Pants
- B.Restroom
- C.Ground floor
- D.Trunk
- A.