2. 外语
  3. Few men have influenced the development of American English to the extent that Noah Webster did. Born in West Hartford, Connecti

Few men have influenced the development of American English to the extent that Noah Webster did. Born in West Hartford, Connecti

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问题     Few men have influenced the development of American English to the extent that Noah Webster did. Born in West Hartford, Connecticut, in 1758, Webster graduated from Yale in 1778. He was admitted to the bar in 1781 and thereafter began to practice law in Hartford. Later, when he turned to teaching, he discovered how inadequate the available schoolbooks were for the children of a new and independent nation. In response to the need for truly American textbooks, Webster published A Grammatical Institute of the English Language, a three-volume work that consisted of a speller (拼字课本), a grammar, and a reader. The first volume, which was generally known as The American Spelling Book, was so popular that eventually it sold more than 80 million copies and provided him with a considerable income for the rest of his life. While teaching, Webster began work on the Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, which was published in 1806, and was also very successful.
    In 1807, Noah Webster began his greatest work, An American Dictionary of the English Language. In preparing the manuscript, he devoted ten years to the study of English and its relationship to other languages, and seven more years to the writing itself. Published in two volumes in 1828, An American Dictionary of the English Language has become the recognized authority for usage in the United States. Webster’s purpose in writing it was to demonstrate that the American language was developing distinct meanings, pronunciations, and spellings from those of British English. He is responsible for advancing simplified spelling forms: develop instead of develope; plow instead of plough; jail instead of gaol; theater and center instead of theatre and centre; color and honor instead of colour and honour.
    Webster was the first author to gain copyright protection in the United States by being awarded a copyright for his American Speller. He continued, for the next fifty years, to argue for improvements in the protection of intellectual properties, that is, authors’ rights. In 1840 Webster brought out a second edition of his dictionary, which included 70,000 entries instead of the original 38,000. The name Webster has become synonymous (同义的) with American dictionaries. This edition served as the basis for the many revisions that have been produced by others, ironically, under the uncopyrighted Webster name.
Why did Webster write A Grammatical Institute of the English Language?
选项 A、He wanted to supplement his income.
B、There were no books available after the Revolutionary War.
C、He felt that British books were not appropriate for American children.
D、The children did not know how to spell.
答案C
解析 根据第一段“he discovered how inadequate the available schoolbooks were for the children of a new and independent nation．”所以他编这本字典是为了美国儿童。
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