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.
拼寫檢查功能正將英國變成一個傻子的國度。一個研究驚人地發現，該國三分之一的成年人拼寫水平達不到11歲兒童的標準。

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歲的成年人參加了這次調查，結果顯示僅有67%的人拼寫水平能達到能力評估測試（Standard Assessment Tests ）的四級，能達到五級的更是不到一半（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%的受訪者未能達到三級，也就是11歲兒童的標準。

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.
專家把成人們拼寫能力下降歸咎于現代生活中無處不有的拼寫檢查和自動糾錯功能等工具。

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拼寫測試本是面向10-11歲小學生的畢業能力測試，受訪者參與了這次測試。

But the test spelled trouble for many of the adults tested.
結果令人憂心。

'Phenomenon', 'unnecessary' and 'broccoli' were among the words spelled wrong by more than half of those who took part.
超過半數受訪者不能正確拼寫"Phenomenon","unnecessary"和"broccoil"這幾個詞。

Other words which few were able to spell included rhythmic and jewellery.
正確率較低的詞還有"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.
辭典編撰學家，電視節目《倒計時》（Countdown）的常駐專家蘇西?登特認為，這種現象源自于拼寫檢查和自動糾錯等工具的流行。

'Modern tools like spellcheck and autocorrect encourage us to switch off from learning, leading to complacency or, at worst, indifference.'
“拼寫檢查和自動糾錯這些現代工具使得人們懶于學習，變得自滿甚至冷漠。”

THE TOP FIVE MISSPELT WORDS
正確率最低的五個詞語：

1. Phenomenon (25% correct)
2. Unnecessary (32% correct)
3. Disappearance (36% correct)
4. Correspondent (37% correct)
5. Synchronised (37% correct)

Vocabulary

spellcheck 自動拼寫檢查
dunce 傻瓜
lexicographer 詞典編纂者
complacency 自滿

（英文來源：每日郵報 譯者：FNU張逸洋 編輯：彭娜）