11．Noah Webster was born on October 16，1758，in the West Division of Hartford，where his father farmed and worked as a weaver．His mother was a housewife．
Few people went to college at that time，but Noah loved so much to learn that his parents let him go to Yale，Connecticut's only college．Noah graduated in 1778．He desired （渴望） to study law，but his parents didn't have more money to send him to school．So，in order to make a living，Noah taught in Glastonbury，Hartford and West Harford．Later he studied law．
Noah did not like American schools．Sometimes 70children of all ages were crammed （擠滿） into one room schoolhouses with poor books and untrained teachers．Their books came from England．Noah thought that Americans should learn from American books so in 1783．Noah wrote his own textbook A Grammatical Institute of the English Language．Mot people called it the"Blue Backed Speller"because of its blue cover．
For 100years，Noah's book taught children how to read，spell，and pronounce words．It was the most popular American book of its time．Ben Franklin used Noah's book to teach his granddaughter to read．
When Noah was 43，he started writing the first American dictionary．He did that because Americans in different parts of the country spelled，pronounced and used words differently．He thought that all Americans should speak in the same way．He also thought that Americans should not speak and spell just like the English．Noah used American spellings like color instead of the English color and music instead of musick．He also added American words that weren't in English dictionaries like skunk and souash．He spent over 27years writing his dictionary．When Noah accomplished （完成） his dictionary in 1828，at the age of 70，the first American dictionary came out．It had 70.000words in it．
Noah did many things in his life．He worked for copyright laws，wrote textbooks，Americanized the English language，and edited magazines．When Noah Webster died in 1843，he was considered an American hero．
Noah Webster and the （86）first American Dictionary
Name：Noah Webster
Date of birth：October 16，1758
Major events：
◆1778：After graduating，Noah had to work as a （87）teacher because his parents couldn't （88）affordhis further education．
◆1783：Crowded schoolhouses with poor English books and untrained teachers didn't （89）satisfyNoah．He wrote the textbook of his own．The textbook was so （90）popularat the time even Ben Franklin used it to teach his granddaughter to read．
◆1801：Noah started writing the first American dictionary because he realized it was （91）necessaryfor all Americans to speak in the same way．Also，he thought all Americans should speak and spell in their （92）ownway．
◆1828：The first American dictionary wasn't （93）accomplished/finisheduntil Noah was 70years old．It （94）tookhim over 27years to write it．
◆1843：Because of his contribution to America，Noah was considered an American（95）herowhen he died． |
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