The Man Who Made Spelling Simple
In English the spelling of words does not always① represent② the sound. So people say/raIt/but spell it right, or write, or even rite. Combinations③ of letters (like ough) may be pronounced in a number of ways④. And some words just seem to have too many letters.
For Americans things are a little bit⑤ easier, thanks to⑥ the work of Noah Webster, a teacher who graduated from⑦ Yale University in 1778⑧. As a young man⑨ he had fought against⑩ the British in the American War of Independence, and he felt that written English in the newly independent United States should have a distinctive?“American” look?.
[读文清障]
①not always并不总是，表示部分否定。
②represent vt.代表；象征
③combination/?k?mbI'neI?n/n.组合；结合
④in a number of ways以多种方式
⑤a little bit稍微
⑥thanks to幸亏，多亏
⑦graduate from毕业于
⑧a teacher是Noah Webster的同位语，who引导定语从句，修饰a teacher。
⑨as a young man年轻时，注意as不要直译为“作为”。
⑩fight against与……作斗争；为反对……而斗争
fight for为……而斗争
?distinctive/dI'stI?ktIv/adj.与众不同的
?look/l?k/n.外观；外表；样子
用作复数时，意为“相貌”。
简化拼写的人
[第1～2段译文]
在英语中单词的拼写并不总是代表其发音。所以人们说/raIt/，但是拼写成right或write，甚至rite。字母的组合(如ough)可能有很多发音方式，并且一些单词看上去有太多的字母。
对美国人来说，事情(单词拼写)稍微容易些，这多亏了一位叫诺亚·韦伯斯特的人，他是一位1778年毕业于耶鲁大学的教师。年轻时，他就参加过反对英国的美国独立战争，并且他觉得书面英语在新独立的美国应该有明显的“美国”特色。
So he began his work on American English. His first book, The Elementary Spelling Book, suggested? simplifying? the spelling of English words. The book was extremely? popular. By the 1850s it was selling one million copies a year, making? it one of the most popular school books ever?.
Many of the suggestions were quickly adopted?. Center instead of centre, program instead of programme, and flavor instead of flavour. Others, however, such as removing silent letters? like the s in island or the final e in examine, were not.
Webster is best known for? his American Dictionary of the English Language, which first appeared in 1828. It introduced lots of new American words, with information about their pronunciation and use, and, of course, the new spelling. The British criticised the dictionary, but it quickly became a standard reference book in the States. Today, Webster's dictionary is still the number one dictionary for American students.
?suggest doing ...建议做……
?simplify/'sImplIfaI/vt.简化
?extremely adv.尤其，非常
?现在分词短语在此处作结果状语。
?ever与最高级连用，意为“空前，有史以来”；与比较级连用，意为“曾经，以往任何时候”，用来加强语气。
?adopt vt.采用，采纳；收养
注意形似词adapt，意为“使适应，改编”。
?silent letters不发音的字母
?be best known for因……而最著名
原级：be well known for
which引导非限制性定语从句，修饰先行词American Dictionary of the English Language。
introduce vt.引进
pronunciation n．发音， pronounce v．发音
criticise/'krItI?saIz/vt.批评
criticise sb. for sth.因某事批评某人
standard/'stænd?d/adj.标准的
reference/'refr?ns/n.参考；查阅
a reference book参考书
第3～5段译文]
因此他开始了美式英语的工作。他的第一本书，《基础拼读教材》，建议简化英语单词的拼写。这本书非常受欢迎。到19世纪50年代，每年售出100万册，结果使它成为史上最受欢迎的校园用书之一。,许多建议很快被采纳了。center代替了centre， program代替了programme， flavor代替了flavour。然而，其他的，例如去掉island中不发音的字母s和examine中的最后一个字母e，则没有被采纳。,韦伯斯特最出名的是他的《美国英语词典》，这本词典在1828年首次出版。书中引进了大量新的美式单词，且带有它们的发音和用法，当然也有新的拼写方式。英国人批评该词典，但是在美国它却很快成为标准的参考书。今天，韦伯斯特的词典对于美国学生来说依然是头号重要的词典。
