American and British English

學習英語應對英語的發展歷史以及英國英語與美國英語之間的差別有所了解，它會幫你掌握英語的一些特點，從而更好地學好這門語言。

People from Great Britain took the English language to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the past 300 years， there have been so many changes in both places that now people can easily tell an English person from an American by the way he or she talks.

Many old words disappeared in England but were kept in America. For example， 300 years ago people in Great Britain got their water from something they called either a “faucet”， “spigot”， or a “tap”. All these words are still heard in different parts of America， but only “tap” is still common in England. Americans often make up new words or change old ones. “Corn” refers to one kind of plant in America and another in England.

Also， over the last three centuries， the English language has added thousands of new words for things that didn't exist before. And often， American and English people use two different names for them. A tin can is called “tin” for short in English， but a “can” in America. The word “radio” is used all over the world， including America， but many English people call it a “wireless”. Also almost anything having to do with cars or railroads has different names in British and American English.

However， now American and British English may be becoming more alike. One thing is that British people hear a large amount of American speech daily in movies， on television， and from travellers. Because of this， Americans seem to be influencing the British more and more. Some day， English may be the same on both sides of the Atlantic again.

Questions： 用文章中出現的適當詞語填空（每空一詞）。

1. She described the events ________ graphically ________ I could almost see them.

2. The boy ________ ________ a story； it was not true.

3. The colour of the product ________ nothing to ________ ________ its quality.

4. You should put a small ________ of salt in a cake.

5. My brother is often absent from work ________ ________ illness.

6. The questions get ________ ________ ________ difficult.

Thinking： 你知道英國英語和美國英語的差別在什么地方嗎？根據你的了解試著將下列詞語歸類，并將歸類好的詞語填入下面的表格中。