Why Keyboards Are Not ABC

Nivel A2 · BásicoTecnología2 minLectura en inglés

Lee el texto en inglés, parte por parte, y responde cada pregunta. Toca una palabra con línea punteada para ver su traducción. Abajo está el vocabulario completo en español.

Look at a computer keyboard. The letters are not in ABC order. The top row of letters starts with Q, W, E, R, T, Y, so people call it the QWERTY keyboard.

1. Why is it called the QWERTY keyboard?

  1. AIts inventor was named Qwerty
  2. BThose are the first letters on the top row
  3. CQWERTY means fast in English
Ver la respuesta

B. Those are the first letters on the top row

The top row of letters starts with Q, W, E, R, T, Y.

La prueba en el texto: The top row of letters starts with Q, W, E, R, T, Y

This order is about 150 years old. It was made in the 1870s for typewriters. A typewriter was a machine that printed letters on paper when you pressed its keys.

2. True or false? The QWERTY order was first made for computers.

  1. ATrue (Verdadero)
  2. BFalse (Falso)
Ver la respuesta

B. False (Falso)

It was made in the 1870s for typewriters, long before computers.

La prueba en el texto: It was made in the 1870s for typewriters

There is a popular story about it. In early typewriters, metal arms hit the paper. If you typed two close letters too fast, the arms got stuck together. So, the story says, the inventor moved common letter pairs apart.

3. In the story, why were common letters moved apart?

  1. ATo stop the metal arms from getting stuck
  2. BTo make the keyboard look nice
  3. CTo help people learn the ABC
Ver la respuesta

A. To stop the metal arms from getting stuck

Close letters typed fast made the arms get stuck together.

La prueba en el texto: the arms got stuck together

But historians are not sure the story is true. Some think other reasons shaped the order too. One thing is clear: by the time computers came, millions of people knew QWERTY, so few wanted to learn a new order.

4. Why do computers still use QWERTY today?

  1. AIt is the fastest order possible
  2. BIt was made for computers
  3. CPeople already knew it
Ver la respuesta

C. People already knew it

Millions of people already knew QWERTY, so few wanted to learn a new order.

La prueba en el texto: millions of people knew QWERTY, so few wanted to learn a new order

Vocabulario en español

InglésEspañolSignificado en inglés
rowfilaa line of things next to each other
typewritersmáquinas de escribirold machines for writing letters on paper with keys
stuckatoradosnot able to move
pairsparesgroups of two
historianshistoriadorespeople who study the past

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