自动拼写检查功能让人变傻

Spellchecks are turning us into a nation of dunces with a third of adults failing to reach the expected spelling ability of an 11 year-old child, a shock study reveals.

拼写检查功能正将英国变成一个傻子的国度。一个研究惊人地发现，该国三分之一的成年人拼写水平达不到11岁儿童的标准。

Research involving 1,000 adults aged between 16 and 77 found that only 67 per cent would reach Level 4 in Standard Assessment Tests (SATs), while less than half (44 per cent) would achieve Level 5.

有1000名16到77岁的成年人参加了这次调查，结果显示仅有67%的人拼写水平能达到能力评估测试(Standard Assessment Tests )的四级，能达到五级的更是不到一半(44%)。

Fifteen per cent of the adults tested failed to even reach Level 3, which is below the level expected of children at age 11.

甚至有15%的受访者未能达到三级，也就是11岁儿童的标准。

Experts blamed the poor showing of adults on the prevalence of tools such as spellcheck and auto-correct, which both play a prominent role in modern-day living.

专家把成人们拼写能力下降归咎于现代生活中无处不有的拼写检查和自动纠错功能等工具。

The study asked adults to complete Key Stage 2 spelling tests designed to gauge the performance of children aged 10 and 11, as they reach the end of primary school.

Key Stage 2拼写测试本是面向10-11岁小学生的毕业能力测试，受访者参与了这次测试。

But the test spelled trouble for many of the adults tested.

结果令人忧心。

'Phenomenon', 'unnecessary' and 'broccoli' were among the words spelled wrong by more than half of those who took part.

超过半数受访者不能正确拼写"Phenomenon","unnecessary"和"broccoil"这几个词。

Other words which few were able to spell included rhythmic and jewellery.

正确率较低的词还有"rhythmic"和"jewellery"。

Susie Dent, lexicographer and resident word expert on TV show Countdown, believes the results were partly down to the prevalence of tools such as spellcheck and auto-correct.

辞典编撰学家，电视节目《倒计时》(Countdown)的常驻专家苏西•登特认为，这种现象源自于拼写检查和自动纠错等工具的流行。

'Modern tools like spellcheck and autocorrect encourage us to switch off from learning, leading to complacency or, at worst, indifference.'

“拼写检查和自动纠错这些现代工具使得人们懒于学习，变得自满甚至冷漠。

THE TOP FIVE MISSPELT WORDS

正确率最低的五个词语：

1. Phenomenon (25% correct)

2. Unnecessary (32% correct)

3. Disappearance (36% correct)

4. Correspondent (37% correct)

5. Synchronised (37% correct)

Vocabulary

spellcheck 自动拼写检查

dunce 傻瓜

lexicographer 词典编纂者

complacency 自满