Question

    American and British people both speak English, of course, but sometimes it does not seem like the same language. In fact, there are some important differences between British and American English.

    First of all, they sound very different. Often, Americans don’t say all the letters in each word especially the sounds like “t”and “d”. However, the British usually pronounce their consonants （辅音）more carefully.

    Also, some letters have different sounds. For example, Americans say the “a”in “half”like the “a”in “cat”, but the British say the “a”in “half”like the “o”in “soft”. The “r”is sometimes said differently, too. When an American says “farmer”, you can usually hear the “r”. But you can’t hear the “r”in British English. The British say “fahmah”.

    Sound is not the only difference. The two languages have different words for some things, for example, the words for clothing are different. Americans use the word“sweater”, but the British say“jumper”.

    Many expressions（短语）are also different in the two countries. In England, if you are going to telephone friends, you “ring them up”. In America, you “give them a call”.

    There are also some differences in grammar.

    These differences can be confusing （令人疑惑）if you are learning English. But there is a reason for the difference. Languages change over time. When the same language is used in different places, it changes differently in each place. This is what happened to English. It also happened to other languages, such as French. Many people in Canada speak French, but their French is different from the French spoken in France.

（    ）1. What’s the main idea of the passage?

    A. The differences between British and American English.

    B. The two different languages, British and American English.

    C. The changes of the English language.

    D. Why American English is different from British English.

（    ）2. Which of the following is Not true?

    A. In American English, the “a”in the word“can’t”sounds the same as the “a”in the word “can”.

    B. The American English is different from British English only in grammar.

    C. Learners of British English may have some difficulty in understanding American English.

    D. French is not only spoken in France but in some other countries as well.

Answer 1

1A   2B