In a survey, the charity found that 65% of people could not spell the word 'necessary' without making a mistake. Three quarters of respondents also believed they were very good at spelling.
According to the charity, computers often provide imperfect results and lead to grammatical errors. They highlighted the word 'manifest', which is sometimes verified by a computer's spell-check, and then replaced by the word 'manipulate'. The spelling may be exact, but the computer is trying to guess the correct meaning of the sentence. Imprecise spelling can also lead to disadvantage in the workplace. Misspelt words on a CV can reflect badly on a person's attitude and character.
The charity is now holding a 'Spellathon' championship in which competitors are asked to carefully spell words out loud. The hope is that if people recite the spelling of words from memory, it will encourage others to check their own spelling.
Critics have warned that simply blaming technology for bad spelling is unfair and does not address the real educational reasons for the decline in spelling standards. So how meticulous are you with your spelling? Can you spell words such as 'definitely' or 'accidentally' with ease?
Quiz 小測驗 1. According to the charity Mencap, what do many people rely on?
The auto-correct function on their computer.
2. Which words can we use to describe something spelt wrong? Give three examples used in the text.
imprecise, a mistake, an error, misspelt, imperfect
3. What is another name for a computer's auto-correct function?
spell-check
4. Is this statement true, false or not given? To recite means to write down your answer.
False. To recite is to read out loud.
5. What is another word for 'standards'?
guidelines, principles
Glossary 词汇表 accurate準確 rely on依靠 auto-correct自動糾正 a mistake一個錯誤 imperfect不完美的 errors錯誤 verified驗證 exact準確的 guess猜想 correct正確 imprecise不精確的 misspelt拼錯 carefully小心的，仔細的 to recite背誦 to check檢查 standards標準 meticulous細緻周密的
