Question

Many people have tried to simplify the spelling of English words. Unlike other languages , English sometimes spells the same sounds in very different ways . For example , there is “l(fā)ight “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 sue 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”．

1.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.

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

A. Andrew Carnegie.

B. Melvil Dewey.

C. Theodore Roosevelt. 

D. Brander Matthews.

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

A.Worried.  

B. Supportive. 

C. Uncertain.

D. Doubtful.

4. According to the passage, simplified spelling________.

A. was welcomed by the US politicians

B. changed the way the words sound

C. has been used widely for over a century

D. was first used in US government letters.

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.D

【解析】

試題分析:本文是一篇記敘文，介紹了美國英語簡化的故事。因為英語有時候相同的音卻拼寫不同，所以很多人都想簡化英語單詞的拼寫。在1906年Andrew Carnegie 成立了簡化拼寫董事會，這個董事會的計劃就是把英語的拼寫接近他們的發(fā)音，這項計劃受到了美國總統(tǒng)西奧多·羅斯福的支持。

1.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。從文章第一段Unlike other languages , English sometimes spells the same sounds in very different ways .可知人們想簡化英語拼寫的原因是在英語中相同的音卻有很多不同的拼寫，故答案選D。

2.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第二段Andrew Carnegie started the Simplified Spelling Board 和Other people on the board were Melvil Dewey ,….and Professor Brander Matthews of Columbia University 可知Theodore Roosevelt. 沒在簡化拼寫小組中，選C。

3.推理判斷題。由文章第二段首句The American President Theodore Roosevelt almost succeeded in simplifying English spelling 和末句They explained their idea to President Roosevelt , who thought that it was indeed logical 可以判斷他是支持簡化拼寫活動的，選B。

4.推理判斷題。根據(jù)文章第二段末句He immediately asked the government printer to use simplified spelling in all government letters .可以推斷簡化的拼寫首次出現(xiàn)在政府文件中，選D。

考點：考查故事類短文閱讀