1. Read the passage and choose the correct answer (A, B, C, or D) to each of the questions that follow.

Two Englishes

American English is the name given to the form of the language used by the people of the United States. (Note that American English does not include Canadian English. The two nations use very similar pronunciation, but in other respects, Canadian English is more like British English.) British English, or Commonwealth English, is the variety used in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, including much of Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Southeast Asia. While American and British English are for the most part reciprocally intelligible, the differences are numerous enough to cause awkward misunderstandings and the occasional breakdown of communication.

Some of the most obvious differences are in vocabulary. Many of these developed between the mid-1th and the mid-20th centuries. This was a period during which a variety of new concepts arose requiring new words. For example, a large

number of words connected with automobiles and other modern vehicles are different in the two forms of English. The British use the Celsius temperature scale whereas Americans are more used to Fahrenheit. An American "trunk’’ is a British '’boot’’. In the U.S., they put "gas" in their cars, but in the UK, it's ‘'petrol." Americans say ‘’subway" while the British say "underground" or ‘’tube’’.

While many of these differences are well-known in both countries, there is an inequality in the comprehensibility of American terms for the British, compared with that of British terms for Americans. The use of many British words, such as ‘'semi" (semi-detached house) or "busk" (to play music in public in the hope of getting donations from passers-by) is likely to completely baffle an American. The global popularity of American movies and television shows, on the other hand, means

that few Americanisms are unknown to British English speakers.

Less noticeable, though also numerous, are differences in grammar. The present perfect tense I've gone' is more commonly heard in British English whereas Americans use the simple past ‘’I went’’ "Did you eat yet?' is a normal question

in the U.S. while 'Have you eaten yet?" is the only acceptable form for British speakers. Collective nouns, singular nouns that describe multiple people, are another point of difference. In British English, they are used with a plural verb: "The family

are worried." Americans use them with a singular verb: "The family is worried."

The word "baffle" in the passage mostly means ____