Reading Smart: Unit 50

 Section 2---Unit 50 Culture and Customs

Some Facts about the English Alphabet

The English alphabet was created over a thousand years ago, and it has changed a lot over the centuries. It grew out of the Roman alphabet, which itself came from the Greek. In fact, the word "alphabet" is made up of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: "alpha" and "beta." Here are a few other examples that demonstrate the ancient and mixed origins of the English alphabet:

The letter w is the only letter in English whose name-double u- has more than one syllable. It was first written as uu, or two u's side by side. In the 1lth century, these two letters came to be united and given sharper angles at the bottom to form the modern w.

The letter x started life in the alphabet of the Phoenicians, an ancient people of Western Asia. Later, it was acquired by the Greeks and used as the first letter of the Greek word for "Christ." This is why many people write "Xmas" for "Christmas."

The letter q did not exist in English until the Normans invaded England in 1066, bringing with them the ancient dialect of northern France. One of their many contributions to the English language was the q-u letter combination, which replaced the English c-w. Before that, the word "queen" had been spelled "c-w-i-n" in English.

Historically, there have been efforts to change the English alphabet. In 1768, Benjamin Franklin invented an alphabet to set Americans apart from the British. He dropped the letters c, j, q, w, x, and y and added some new letters. Franklin thought his alphabet would be easy to learn, but it never became popular and was eventually forgotten.

Today, about a hundred languages use letters found in the English alphabet, making it one of the most widely used in the world. With this popularity, it seems unlikely that the English alphabet will undergo any dramatic changes anytime soon.

Reading Comprehension

(   ) 1. Which of the following words includes a contribution from the Normans?

(A) Christmas (B) Quarter (C) Alpha (D) Cwin

(   ) 2. Which of the following is true, according to the article?

(A) The word "alphabet" comes from the Phoenicians.

(B) The letter w is the only letter in the English alphabet with one syllable.

(C) The English alphabet grew out of the Roman, Egyptian, and Norman alphabets.

(D) Writing "Xmas" instead of “Christmas" is related to the origin of the letter x.

(   ) 3. Why did Benjamin Franklin want to change the English alphabet?

(A) He didn't want to be too closely associated with the British.

(B) He thought the English alphabet was too difficult for Americans.

(C) He felt that there were too many letters in the alphabet.

(D) He believed that the current alphabet would eventually be forgotten.

(   ) 4. What does the last paragraph imply?

(A) The English alphabet will continuously change because it's used in a lot of languages.

(B) English is the most widely spoken language in the world because of its popularity.

(C) There won't be great changes in the English alphabet for a while.

(D) The English alphabet will be more popular in the future.