American and British people both speak English, but sometimes it doesn’t seem like the same language.

First of all, they sound very different. Often, Americans don’t say all the letters in each word, especially consonants （辅音） like “t” and “d.” For example, Americans may say “I dun no” instead of “I don’t know”. However, the British usually pronounce their consonants more carefully.

Also, some letters have different sounds. For example, Americans say the “a” in “half” like the “a” in “cat,” but the British say the “a” in “half” like the “a” in “ash.”

Sound is not the only difference between British English and American English. The two languages have different words for some things. For example, the words for clothing are different. Americans use the word “sweater,” but the British say “jumper.”

Many other words and expressions are different in the two countries. In England, if you are going to telephone a friend, you “ring her up.” In America, you “give her a call.” The British use the word “lovely” to describe something they like. Americans use the word “cool” or “great”.

There are also some differences in grammar. For example, Americans almost always use the helping verb “do” with the verb “have.” They might say “Do you have an extra pen?” The British often ask the question in a different way. They might say “Have you got an extra pen?”

These differences can be confusing（令人混淆的） if you are learning English. But there is a reason for the differences. Languages change over time. When the same language is used in different places, it changes differently in each place. This is what happened to English. It also happened to other languages, such as French. Many people in Canada speak French, but their French is different from the French spoken in France.

1．Do Americans say all the letters in each word?

___________________________________________________________

2．Who use the word “sweater”, Americans or the British?

___________________________________________________________

3．Is French the same in Canada and France?

____________________________________________________________

4．Why are there some differences in the same language?

___________________________________________________________

5．What is the main idea of the passage?

___________________________________________________________

用所给词的适当形式填空。每词只限用一次，可加助动词等。  

    Dear Pen Pal,

      I’m having a great time in Hong Kong，although I have to be honest and say that I prefer Shanghai．Still it′s a great place  l  and I'm lucky to be here for my six-month English course．Some other students  2  French．I might like to learn it too．What languages would you like to learn?

     There  3  just so much to see and do here．Last night I  4  to a Chinese music concert．Most of my friends like loud music that they can dance to．I  5  quiet，traditional music so the concert  6  me just fine．What kinds of music do you like?

     Before the concert we went for Italian food．Do you like it? There are lots of different kinds of food here．I don′t know what  7   next．What kinds of food do you prefer?

B．读一下面的对话，选择恰当的单词填空。每词只限用一次。

P：Paula    B：Bob

P：Hi，Bob．You look   8    !

B：I don′t feel great，Paula．

P：Is there something   9    ? Have you been to the doctor′t s?

B：No，I′m not i11．I’m just a bit tired．I′m probably not sleeping enough．

P：You shouldn′t go out so late then．

B：I'm not going out at all actually．I′m too busy  10  .I   11   last night.

P：Staying up? But the exams are two months away．

B：I know．but I've got a lot to do．I didn′t do much last term．1 wish I had been more like you!

P：Well，yeah，1 went to every class and I took lots of  12  ．After class I spent time looking through all the key points I made during class．

B：Have you started preparing for the exams?

P：Not yet．I'll start next week，but I'm not going to stay up all night doing it．If you don′t sleep enough．you can′t  1 3  and you don′t learn anything．Anyway you   should have a  weekend off．

B：I don′t think so．I can′t  14  the time．

P：Of course you can．Why don′t you go to do some  15  work with me? You used to be a  member of our Helping Team．

P：I know, I do need some time to relax．