"Colour" and "color", "favourite" and "favorite", "honour" and "honor"…Have you ever wondered why Americans spell those words without a "u"? Is it because they are lazy?

Of course not. In fact, the difference in spelling was started by Noah Webster (1758-1843). He was a teacher who reformed (改革) English to make American identity (特征) stronger. Linguists (语言学家) celebrate his birthday on October 16 every year.

After the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), Webster believed that Americans should have their own dictionary, rather thanrely on British dictionaries.

He dropped the British "u" in some words. And he changed "centre" into "center" for children to learn English by spelling words more like what they sounded. He used "subway" instead of British word "underground". Some other examples are "soccer" and "football", "fall" and "autumn".

Webster wasn't shy about expressing his opinions. In defining (定义) preposterous (unreasonable), he wrote: "A republican government in the hands of female is preposterous.

Webster spent 28 years on the project before completing the 70, 000-word dictionary with his American-style spelling in 1828. He also added local words.

His dictionary was widely used in schools. Linguists believed it helped a new country achieve unity (统一) and cultural independence at a time when most people cared about political freedom.

"He was the creator of our language and the creator of American identity," said Joshua Kendall, who is working on a book about Webster. "He at last brought us together through our language."

A few days ago, Simon left school. He wanted to find a job in a big city. So he came to London. He went from one company to another but none wanted him. At last he only had a little money for the train ticket, so he had to go back to his hometown (家乡). He came to the train station. He felt sad and tired. It was late at night. There were many people in the train station waiting to buy tickets for the last train. Simon was happy because he bought the last ticket for the train.

He went to a bench to wait for the train. Just then a woman came over and she had a crying baby in her arms. She said to Simon that her baby was ill, so she hoped to take the train home quickly. But she couldn't buy the ticket. She looked very worried and sad. After hearing this, Simon took out his ticket and gave it to the woman.

After the train left, Simon sat on the bench and didn't know what to do. Just then, an old man came and said, "Young man, I saw what happened just now. I have a big company. I need a good young man like you. Would you like to work for me?"

Millie sometimes some interesting places.

—I'm afraid you ____. You have already kept it for more than a month.

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come1 play around it every day. He climbed to the tree top,2 the apples or played under the tree. He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.

Time went by. The little boy had3 and he no longer played around the tree.

One day, the boy came back to the tree and4 sad. "Come and play with me," the tree asked the boy.

"I am no longer a kid. I do not play around trees any more," the boy5 . "I want toys. I need6 to buy them." "Sorry, but I don't have money. But you can pick all my apples and7 them. So, you will have money." The boy was so8 . He picked all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy didn't come back9 he picked the apples. The tree was10 .

One day, the boy11 and the tree was so excited. "Come and play with me," the tree said. "I don't have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a12 . Can you help me?" "Sorry, but I don't have a house. But you can13 my branches to build your house." So the boy cut all the branches of the tree and left14 .

The tree was glad to see him full of joy but the boy didn't appear. Since then the tree felt again15 and sad.

—By George Crum.

—In Beijing.