A Many people have tried to simplify the spelling of English word. Unlike other languages, English ——青夏教育精英家教网—

摘要：A Many people have tried to simplify the spelling of English word. Unlike other languages, English spells the same sounds in very different ways. For example, there is `light’ but `white’, `loan’ but `phone’, and there are at least seven different ways of pronouncing the sound `ough’! Each of the following words is pronounced differently: `though’, `through’, `bough’, `cough’, `enough’, `ought’, and `thorough’. The great Irish writer, George Bernard Shaw, was very interested in making English spelling more logical. The American president Theodore Roosevelt almost succeeded in doing this. In 1906 one of the richest men in America, Andrew Carnegie, started the Simplified Spelling Board. This Board was a group of people whose plan was to make the spelling of words nearer to the way they sounded. For example, the word `though’ would be spelt `tho’, `through’ would became `thru’ (which it did, but much later), `enough’ would become `enuf’, and so on. Other people on the Board were Melvin Dewey, the head of the New York libraries, and Professor Brander Matthews of Columbia University. They took the idea to President Roosevelt who thought it was a very good one. He immediately told the government printer to use the simplified spelling on all government letters. But people do not like change – even change that makes life easier – and many people disliked the new, simpler spelling. The British – who probably thought they owned the English language – were particularly angry. More importantly, when American politicians discussed the plan, they did not like it. Because Roosevelt did not want to have a problem with the politicians, he changed his plans and told the printer to go back to the old way of spelling. Since then no one in any government has dared to try to simplify English spelling. However, people do simplify many words, mainly in advertisements. We often see `tonite’ instead of `tonight’, for example, and `thru’ instead of `through’. 56. The passage is about . A. President Roosevelt. B. people who tried to simplify English spelling C. the way that advertisements simplify English spelling D. how to pronounce English properly 57. People wanted to simplify the spelling of English so that . A. words could have several different pronunciations B. words could be spelt as they were pronounced C. they could establish the Simplified Spelling Board D. it was more difficult to read government letters 58. Simplified spelling failed because . A. it was not easy to understand B. the government didn’t like the idea C. there were too many new words to learn D. people did not want to change

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Many people have tried to simplify (简化) the spelling of English words.Unlike other languages，English sometimes spells the same sounds in very different ways.For example，there is “light” but “white”，“loan” but “phone”，and there are at least seven different ways of pronouncing “ough”：“though”，“through”，“bough”，“cough”，“enough”，“ought” and “thorough”．

The American President Theodore Roosevelt almost succeeded in simplifying English spelling.In 1906，Andrew Carnegie started the Simplified Spelling Board.He was one of the richest men in the United States of America.The board’s plan was to make the spelling of words nearer to the way they sound.For example，the word “though” would be spelt “tho” and “through” would become “thru”．Other people on the board were Melvil Dewey，the head of the New York libraries，and Professor Brander Matthews of Columbia University.They explained their idea to President Roosevelt，who thought that it was indeed logical.He immediately asked the government printer to use simplified spelling in all government letters.

But people didn’t like the change，even if it made life easier.So the new simpler spelling was not popular.More importantly，when the American politicians (政客) discussed the plan，they did not like it either.Because Roosevelt did not want to have any problems with the politicians，he changed his mind and told the printer to go back to the old way of spelling.

Since then no one in any government has dared to simplify English spelling.However，people do simplify some words，mainly in advertisements.For example，we often see “tonite” instead of “tonight” and “thru” instead of “through”．

68．Many people have tried to simplify English spelling because________.

A．English words are too long to remember

B．there are many mistakes in English words

C．lots of words are spelt in many different ways

D．sometimes the same sounds have different spellings

69．Who is NOT a member of the Simplified Spelling Board?

A．Andrew Carnegie. B．Melvil Dewey.

C．Theodore Roosevelt. D．Brander Matthews.

70．What was Theodore Roosevelt’s attitude towards simplified spelling?

A．Worried. B．Supportive.

C．Uncertain. D．Doubtful.

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