The 20 simple words Brits are unable to spell:
20個(gè)英國人最易拼錯的簡(jiǎn)單詞匯：
1. Questionnaire2. Accommodate 3. Definitely 4. Liaison 5. Existence 6. Occurrence 7. Referring
8. Occurred 9. Millennium 10. Embarrass 11. Calendar 12. Receive 13. Necessary 14. Separate
15. Cemetery 16. Library 17. Accidentally 18. Independent 19. Occasionally 20. Receipt
Millions of adults are unable to spell basic everyday words, a study suggests.
一項調查研究顯示，數百萬(wàn)的成年人都無(wú)法正確拼寫(xiě)出一些日常生活中的基本單詞。
Of 2,500 surveyed, 40 per cent could not spell "questionnaire", 38 per cent were stumped by "accommodate" and 37 per cent were defeated by "definitely".
一項對2,500人進(jìn)行的調查顯示，40%的受訪(fǎng)者都被questionnaire（問(wèn)卷調查）這個(gè)詞難倒。另外兩個(gè)“ 難詞”是accommodate（適應、留宿或招待）和definitely（絕對、肯定），分別有38%和37%的受訪(fǎng)者不能正確拼寫(xiě)。
Around a third of those questioned were unable to spell "liaison", "existence" or "occurrence".
還有大約1/3的受訪(fǎng)者會(huì )栽在liaison（聯(lián)絡(luò )）、existence（存在）和occurrence（發(fā)生、出現）這三個(gè)詞上。
Other simple words which caused problems were "calendar", "embarrass", "library" and "receipt".
其他一些容易出錯的單詞包括：calendar（日歷）, embarrass（困窘）, library（圖書(shū)館）和 receipt（收據）。
Two-thirds blamed their inability to get words right on the predictive text function on their mobile phones.
三分之二的受訪(fǎng)者將不會(huì )拼寫(xiě)歸咎于發(fā)送手機短信，因為現在短信的輸入都有單詞提示功能。
Despite the embarrassing results, almost a third claimed their spelling was excellent, while 46 per cent said it was good.
盡管調查的結果令人尷尬，但是將近1/3的人宣稱(chēng)“我的拼寫(xiě)很不錯”，46%的人表示“我的拼寫(xiě)挺好” 。
Alarmingly, 14 per cent did not think it was important to spell properly, and 11 per cent were not bothered by colleagues' spelling mistakes.
令人擔憂(yōu)的是，14%的人認為拼寫(xiě)錯誤并沒(méi)有什么大不了，而11%的人不會(huì )介意同事錯誤的拼寫(xiě)。
Twenty per cent said they avoided writing documents by hand because their spelling was poor, and 59 per cent said they relied on their computer's spell checker to get things right--even though some are programmed with American English.
20%的人表示由于拼寫(xiě)能力不強，他們會(huì )避免手寫(xiě)的文檔。59%的人表示他們寫(xiě)東西時(shí)會(huì )依賴(lài)電腦的自動(dòng)拼寫(xiě)檢查功能，即使需要鑒別一些美式英語(yǔ)和英式英語(yǔ)的拼寫(xiě)差異。
Six per cent said their spelling was so bad they had lost a job because of it.
6%的受訪(fǎng)者表示，他們由于拼寫(xiě)能力差而丟掉了飯碗。
A spokesman said: "It's worrying how weak our spelling has become, especially with regard to simple, everyday words.
該公司的一名發(fā)人說(shuō)：“我們的拼寫(xiě)技能已經(jīng)越來(lái)越差，尤其在拼寫(xiě)一些非常簡(jiǎn)單的日常單詞時(shí)也是如此，這種現象是令人擔憂(yōu)的。”
"It's interesting to see that despite getting basic words wrong, a huge majority still regard their spelling skills as excellent or good.
“有趣的是，盡管很多人連一些基本單詞的拼寫(xiě)都弄錯了，但絕大多數人仍舊認為自己的拼寫(xiě)能力很好、很出色。”
