阅读理解
I did some research and examined how
British English and American English changed between the 1930s and the 2000s.
Take spelling, for example towards the 1960s it looked like the UK was going in
the direction of not using the "u" in "colour" and writing "centre"
as "center". But since then, the British have become more confident
in some of their own spellings. In the 2000s, the UK used an American spelling
choice about 11% of the time while Americans use a British one about 10% of the
time. There is also no need to worry too much about American words, such as
"vacation", "liquor" and "lawmaker" entering
British English. There are a few examples of this kind of vocabulary change but
they are mostly uncommon words and are not likely to change British English too
much. The British are still using "mum" rather than "mom"
and "petrol" rather than "gas".
But when we start thinking of language
more in terms of style than vocabulary or spelling, a different picture
appears. Some of the bigger trends (趋势) in American English are moving
towards a freer use of language. American sentences are usually one word
shorter in 2006 than they were in 1931.
Americans also use a lot more
apostrophes (撇号)
in their writing than they used to, which has the effect of turning the two
words "do not" into the single "don't". "The hand of
the king" becomes the shorter "The king's hand".
However, in all these ways Brits are
changing too—and in the same way as Americans. They're just about 30 years
behind the trend that Americans seem to be leading.
So this raises a question, is British
English actively following American English or is this something that is simply
a natural trend in language use? Perhaps the British would have gone in that
direction even if America had been discovered? I'd like to agree with the
second idea but because of the fact that British people learn plenty of
American language through different ways, I think the first is more correct.
I did some research and examined how
British English and American English changed between the 1930s and the 2000s.
Take spelling, for example towards the 1960s it looked like the UK was going in
the direction of not using the "u" in "colour" and writing "centre"
as "center". But since then, the British have become more confident
in some of their own spellings. In the 2000s, the UK used an American spelling
choice about 11% of the time while Americans use a British one about 10% of the
time. There is also no need to worry too much about American words, such as
"vacation", "liquor" and "lawmaker" entering
British English. There are a few examples of this kind of vocabulary change but
they are mostly uncommon words and are not likely to change British English too
much. The British are still using "mum" rather than "mom"
and "petrol" rather than "gas".
But when we start thinking of language
more in terms of style than vocabulary or spelling, a different picture
appears. Some of the bigger trends (趋势) in American English are moving
towards a freer use of language. American sentences are usually one word
shorter in 2006 than they were in 1931.
Americans also use a lot more
apostrophes (撇号)
in their writing than they used to, which has the effect of turning the two
words "do not" into the single "don't". "The hand of
the king" becomes the shorter "The king's hand".
However, in all these ways Brits are
changing too—and in the same way as Americans. They're just about 30 years
behind the trend that Americans seem to be leading.
So this raises a question, is British
English actively following American English or is this something that is simply
a natural trend in language use? Perhaps the British would have gone in that
direction even if America had been discovered? I'd like to agree with the
second idea but because of the fact that British people learn plenty of
American language through different ways, I think the first is more correct.
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