person goes on holiday, while an American takes a vacation; you visit a city center in Britain but go downtown in the US.

A few words have different meanings across the two varieties of English, which could cause some embarrassment: Americans who are wearing pants have their legs covered, but if a British person is dressed only in pants, they are in their underwear (clothes that you wear next to your body under your other clothes)! And if you need to fill up your car with fuel, you can ask for gas in the US, but you need to buy petrol in Britain, as "gas" is a liquid in British English.

Overall, though, our research shows that British and American English are still very close to each other. The 10 most common words (the, of, to, and, a, in, that, is, for and I) are the same in both countries, and most of the UK's 5, 000 most common words are also in the USA's 5, 000.

【文章大意】本文是一篇说明文。作者参与了一项关于英式英语和美式英语的研究, 结果发现两种英语大同小异。

1. What can we learn about the project the author worked on?

A. It aims to collect new words.

B. It is a study on English exams.

C. It is based on powerful evidence.

D. It offers vocabulary course online.

【解析】选C。推理判断题。根据第一段"We analyzed a 50-million-word collection. . . and we also looked at the vocabulary taught in best-selling British and American English course books. "一句可知, 作者所参与的这个研究项目是基于可信的依据的。

2. What may British people refer to when they say "cookies"?

A. A variety of biscuit.

B. Tiny chocolate cakes.

C. American biscuit recipes.

D. Biscuits made in British.

【解析】选A。细节理解题。根据第二段"We have cookies too in Britain, but they are a certain type of biscuit. . . "可知, 当英国人说饼干时, 实际指的是一种源自美国配方的特定饼干, 如美式巧克力曲奇。因此答案选A。

3. Which sentence may be proper when you chat with British people?

A. I'll fill my car up with gas.

B. My car has run out of liquid.

C. It is great to wear pants for the party.

D. I bought the pants in the shop this morning.

【解析】选D。推理判断题。由第三段列举的英式和美式英语中的一些细微差别可知, A、B项内容在英国是不妥当的说法, 而C项则是非常无礼的。pants在英国指的是一种内衣, 而在美国则指长裤。故与英国人交谈时D项说法是合适的。

4. What do the numbers in the last paragraph show?

A. Short words are most commonly used in English.

B. British and American English are still very similar.

C. The most common English words have changed greatly.

D. The differences between British and American English are obvious.