单选题 Although many people speak English, they don"t pronounce it or spell the word they use the same way. The United States, in 16 , has its own special way of pronouncing and spelling the English language. They speak American English, and they 17 a lot of its special character to one man: Noah Webster.
Noah Webster was born in Connecticut in 1758. He 18 during a period of great American patriotism. He graduated from Yale University when he was 20. The 19 of the American Revolution brought independence to the United States, but political 20 didn"t satisfy Webster. He wanted to 21 "the King"s English" and replace it 22 a special American Language.
In 1783, Webster published a textbook called The American spelling Book. It was used by generation after 23 of American school children. Because the book had a blue back, it becomes famous 24 "the blue-backed speller".
Webster also 25 a dictionary. It too, became very 26 and was updated and reprinted many times. 27 are, when you are confused with a word, you"ll 28 the word in a new edition of Noah Webster"s book.
In his books, Webster made many changes in the English used in the United States. He suggested new ways to 29 and spell English words. He also added new American words 30 the language.
Webster made many other changes, most of 31 American use today. However, Webster did not go 32 his friend Benjamin Franklin wanted him to. Franklin wanted to drop all the silent letters from words; he also wanted to change the spelling of many words. Had Franklin written the dictionary 33 Webster, he 34 spell give [giv], and wrong [rong]. Franklin really wanted to give us our own mother tongue, but we would have 35 it wrong!