American and British use different greetings. In the USA the commonest greeting is “Hi”. In Britain it is “Hello！” or “How are you？”. “Hi！” is creeping(不知不觉的)into British, too. When they are introduced to someone, the Americans say, “Glad to know you.” The British say, “How do you do？” or “Pleased to meet you.” When Americans say “Goodbye”， they nearly always add, “Have a good day，” or “Have a good trip，” etc. to friends and strangers alike. Britons are already beginning to use “Have a good day”。
The British usually use “got”in the sense of “have”. The Americans hardly ever do.
Am.E: Do you have a car, room，etc.？Yes, I do.
Br.E: Have you got a car, room, etc.? Yes, I have.
Finally, there are a number of differences between American and British English in the spelling of words, e．g.check(US)/cheque(UK); center(US)/centre(UK). Many American words ending in “or”， e．g. honor, vigor, labor are spelt in British English with an “our”， e．g. honour, vigour, labour. Many verbs in American English with “ize”or “izing” forms, e．g. organize, realizing are spelt in Br.E “ise”or “ising”，e.g.organise，realising.In American English, “practice”is used both for the verb and noun.In Br.E, the verb is spelt “practise”， and the noun “practice”. In the main, American English avoids the doubling up of consonants(辅音字母)in nouns and verbs while British English does not.In American English, for example, one writes “travel, traveled, traveling, traveler，” while in British English, one writes “travel, travelled, travelling, traveller”．
It was once predicted that British and American English would became separate languages finally. But the opposite has happened. The links(连接)between the two countries are so strong that linguistically(语言上的), and probably culturally(文化上的)too, they are closer together than ever.
小题1:The Americans hardly say________.
A．Goodbye.Have a good day!
B．Glad to know you!
C．Hi!
D．Have you got a car?小题2:A British writes________.
A．cheque；center
B．honor；organise
C．traveled；practice
D．labour；traveller小题3:What does the fifth paragraph talk about?
A．There are lots of differences in spelling between Am.E.and Br.E.
B．Why do the Americans and the British use different spellings?
C．There are few differences in spelling between Am.E.and Br.E.
D．The different usages of words in Am.E and Br.E小题4:Which of the following is TRUE?
A．The two languages will become separate languages.
B．American English will be used more and more.
C．The two languages will be closer and closer.
D．British English will be used more and more.
