UK vs US:

Divided by a common language?

Schon an der Aussprache kann man einen britischen und amerikanischen Muttersprachler erkennen. Doch nicht nur daran. Erfahren Sie in diesen Übungen, worin sich die beiden englischen

Varianten sonst noch unterscheiden, und testen Sie, wie gut Sie damit zurechtkommen.

1. We’re on the first floor (10 points)

Mark tells his colleague Lynne about his visit to the organization’s offices in Boston. Put the words in bold into the right category below, “UK” or “US”.

Lynne: Hi, Mark. How was Boston?

Mark: Great! Their offices are amazing!

Lynne: Yes, I know. They’re on the (A) ground floor / first floor of one of those ultramodern buildings (B) in the city centre / downtown. You just walk straight in from the street into a majestic hall.

Mark: And you can get there quickly from the airport. I just took the shuttle service to the central station and, from there, the (C) subway / underground to the station just opposite the building. The (D) single ticket / one-way ticket was very cheap.

Lynne: Did you have a look at the floors and walls in the (E) restrooms / toilets? They are all in white marble.

Mark: Amazing! And a glass (F) lift / elevator takes you to that beautiful roof garden at the top of the building.

Lynne: But I didn’t like the large (G) parking lot / car park for the shopping mall behind the building, with all those (H) lorries / trucks delivering goods all day and also the (I) gas station / petrol station right next to it. And, depending on which way the wind was blowing, the noise from the (J) motorway / freeway was sometimes horrible.

2. Could you spell that, please? (8 points)

Lynne and Mark are looking at some brochures they received from the Boston office that provide information on summer events. Replace each US term in bold with its UK equivalent.

Mark: Have you seen these brochures with some extracts from the new summer (A) catalog ( )?

Lynne: Yes, I think the (B) program ( ) looks quite varied and interesting. The intercultural workshops, which all take place in a former (C) theater ( ), are (D) organized ( ) together with the city council. Here’s a photo in which the mayor is handing over a (E) check ( ) for $5,000 that was donated during the Boston Marathon to support these intercultural events. Could you do me a (F) favor ( ) and check that the names of all the people in the photo are correct? Mark: Sure, will do. And I’ll also have a look at the list of organizations that hold a (G) license ( ) for using our logo. You know, the sessions that interest me most are the ones on the differences in pronunciation between British and American English and between different regions in the countries themselves. Lynne: Me, too. And what’s great is that you’ll be able to (H) practice ( ) these differences with people from those regions!

3. What does that mean? (8 points)

In the Boston office, Helen and Bill are talking about the meaning of some of the British English terms they’ve come across. Fill in the missing vowels in the words in bold, which are in American English.

Helen: Bill, look at this e-mail that I got from Mark yesterday. He attached some documents. If I didn’t know he was British, I wouldn’t have understood what he meant. First, he referred to a “profit and loss account” and “value added tax.” Bill: Well, that’s what we call an

(A)n cm st tmnt and

(B)slstx.Wh at else? Helen: He mentioned a “pay rise” as of October, referring to the “expiry date” of the existing wage agreement reached with the “trade union” and to the “small print” in our employment contracts. Bill: That’s OK, as our American terms are si mil ar:(C)rs,(D)x pr tn dt,(E) lb rnn and

(F)f np rnt.

Helen: But then he asked about the current figures of our “stocks.” What are those? Bill: Oh, those are what we call

(G)nvn try.

Helen: Finally, he gives me the new number of their “current account.” Does he mean their (H) ch ck ng cc nt? Bill: Exactly. That’s what we call this kind of account.

Helen: Well, thanks. Everything’s clear now.

4. Getting down to business (6 points)

Lynne and Mark are trying an activity on idioms from the summer workshops. The idioms are in British English. Complete the US idiom with the correct word from the box.

barrelhead shoe horn stone ride wrench

Mark: Lynne, didn’t you tell me the other day that you like playing around with idioms? I’ve come across a nice sheet with some idioms and phrases in British and American English in which only one word is different. Let’s see if you know the differences.

Lynne: OK. Go ahead.

Mark: Well, British people pay “cash on the nail”, …

Lynne: …whereas Americans put “cash on the (A) ”.

Mark: In Britain, you “blow your own trumpet”, …

Lynne: …and your own (B) “” in America.

Mark: If you disrupt somebody’s plans and make them fail, you “throw a spanner in the works” in London…

Lynne: …and “a (C) in(to) the works” in L.A.

Mark: A person in the UK can be “stony broke”, whereas someone in California who doesn’t have any money left…

Lynne: …is (D) “broke”.

Mark: If you take someone to King’s Cross in London, you “give them a lift”.

Lynne: If they want to go to Grand Central Station in New York, you “give them a (E) ”.

Mark: And here’s the last one. If something applies to a Brit, he or she should accept responsibility for it. So “if the cap fits, wear it”.

Lynne: Americans generally wear “hats” instead of “caps”. And in this situation, they say (F) “” instead. I do like idioms!

5. What do they want to say? (6 points)

The British and American teams are having a meeting to discuss a number of current issues. Remember: Lynne and Mark are from Bath, Helen and Bill from Boston. Choose the appropriate meaning of each phrase in bold.

6. An email from Boston (7 points)

Helen asks Thomas, a British intern, to draft an email for her to a former senior manager of the organization. There are seven elements in this email that are in British English but should be in American English. Correct them.

Dear (A) Mr Fowler,

Thanks for your email of (B) 4/6/2019. I look forward to meeting you in Boston in June. Our offices are now (C) in Park Street, and office hours are (D) Monday to Friday, from (E) 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. You asked me how to get here: (F) don’t worry! Just let me know your time of arrival and I’ll meet you at the station.

(G) Yours faithfully,

Helen R. Whealer