A
There is an old saying that America and Britain are “two nations divided by a common language.” No one knows exactly who said this, but it reflects the way many Brits feel about American English.But are American and British English really so different?
Vocabulary
The most obvious difference between American and British English is vocabulary.There are hundreds of everyday words that are different.For example, Americans go on vacation while Brits go on holidays; New Yorkers live in apartments while Londoners live in flats.There are far more examples than we can talk about here.Fortunately, most Americans and Brits can usually guess the meaning through the context of a sentence.
Past Tense Verbs
You'll also find some differences with past forms of irregular verbs.The past tense of “learn” in American English is “learned”．British English has the option of “learned” or “learnt”．The same rule applies to “dreamed” and “dreamt”， “burned” and “burnt”， and “leaned” and “leant”．Americans tend to use theed ending; Brits tend to use thet ending.
Spelling
There are hundreds of slight spelling differences between British and American English.Noah Webster, an author, politician and teacher, made an effort to reform English spelling in the late 1700s.
Webster wanted to spell words the way they sounded.You can see Webster's legacy(遗产) in the American spelling of words like color (from colour), honor (from honour), and labor(from labour)．
Not So Different After All
British and American English have far more similarities than differences.With the exception of some regional dialects, most Brits and Americans can understand each other without too much difficulty.They watch each other's TV shows, sing each other's songs and read each other's books.They even make fun of each others' accents.
【语篇解读】 这是一篇说明文。文章主要从三点介绍了英式英语和美式英语的不同之处，它们是：词汇，过去形式，拼写。但是尽管有不同，但这并不影响两国人的交流。
1．Which of the following is a group of American words?
A．Vacation; holiday. B．Apartment; flat.
C．Vacation; apartment. D．Holiday; flat.
C [细节理解题。根据文章第二段的“For example, Americans go on vacation while Brits go on holidays; New Yorkers live in apartments while Londoners live in flats.”可知，vacation和apartment都是美国人用的词汇。故选C项。]
2．The underlined word “option” in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by ．
A．choice B．change
C．structure D．use
A [词义猜测题。根据画线词后面的“learned” or “learnt”可知，关于learn的过去时形式英国人可以写learned也可以写learnt，即他们可以在这两种写法中任选一个，故推测画线词的意思是“选择”。故选A项。]
3．What do we know about British and American English from the last paragraph?
A．They both have some strange words.
B．They are affecting people using them.
C．They connect people of the two countries.
D．Their differences have little effect on communication.
D [细节理解题。根据文章最后一段的“British and American English have far more similarities than differences.With the exception of some regional dialects, most Brits and Americans can understand each other without too much difficulty.”可知，英式英语和美式英语的相似之处远多于不同之处，除了一些方言，英国人和美国人之间的交流是没有多大问题的。故选D项。]
4．What can be the best title for the text?
A．Ways to Tell British English from American English
B．Differences between British and American English
C．Development of British and American English
D．Difficulty for Brits and Americans to Understand Each Other
B [标题归纳题。根据文章第一段的“But are American and British English really so different？”第二段的“The most obvious difference between American and British English is vocabulary.”第三段的“You'll also find some differences with past forms of irregular verbs.”第四段的“There are hundreds of slight spelling differences between British and American English.”可知，本文主要介绍英式英语和美式英语的不同之处。故选B项。]
