Why the United States Doesn't Use the Metric System
From RD · 333 words · 3 mins
As of today, the entire world has adopted the metric system, with the exception of the United States, Myanmar, and Liberia. Given the fact that it is time-consuming and tedious to translate between U.S. customary units and the metric system, having two competing systems is not ideal for global communication and cooperation. So, why doesn't the U.S. use the metric system? Surprisingly, the answer actually dates back to the 1700s.
In 1790, France conceived the metric system as a means of streamlining commerce, reducing fraud, and clearing up the general confusion that permeated the country in the absence of a standard system of measurement.
The first step in creating this system was setting a universal guide for measuring a meter. Since the French scientists wanted to be as precise as possible and enable others to emulate their process, they decided to derive the measurements from the earth's circumference—a well-known dimension at the time.
To do this, the scientists selected a longitudinal segment of the Earth that ran between the northern and southern parts of France, and carefully divided it to create the meter. The resulting measurement system, which is now known as the metric system, was extremely innovative and attractive to the international community. However, since the metric system was rooted in a portion of French land, the United States decided not to adopt this system.
In the 19th century, as the rest of the world began to accept the metric system, the U.S. Congress proposed that the country transition toward this international system as well. However, at this point in time, American industrialists had already stocked their factories with equipment that was based on the U.S. customary units. To prevent a costly overhaul of their equipment, these industrialists used their influence to stop Congress from adopting the metric system throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
Today, America still teaches U.S. customary units in its schools, although many scientists and organizations have submitted to the ease of the internationally used metric system.
1.Which country conceived the metric system?
A.the United States
B.Myanmar
C.France
2.What is the meaning of "tedious" in para.1?
A.so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
B.having or showing keen interest or intense desire or impatient expectancy
C.showing careful forethought
3.Which one of the following statements is true?
A.Having two competing systems can be helpful for global communication and cooperation.
B.Countries began to accept the metric system in the 18th century.
C.The United States decided not to adopt the metric system because it was rooted in a portion of French land.
解析：
1.正確答案：C;參考文章第二段可知。
2.正確答案：A;冗長的；囉嗦的
3.正確答案：C;根據文章第四段內容可知。
截至今天，除了美國、緬甸和賴比瑞亞以外，全世界都採用了公制單位。考慮到在美制和公制單位之間轉換費時費力，擁有兩個相互矛盾的單位對於全球交流與合作來說並不理想。那麼，美國為什麼不用公制單位呢?令人驚訝的是，答案實際上可以追溯到18世紀。1790年，法國構想了公制，以簡化貿易，減少欺詐，並消除因沒有標準的計量體系而普遍存在的混亂。創建這個系統的第一步是設定出度量「一公尺」的通用方法。法國科學家力求精確，好說服各國採取他們的方法，他們決定從地球的周長——一個當時眾所周知的維度——來獲得測量結果。為了做到這一點，科學家們選擇了穿過法國北部和南部之間的一條地球經線，並仔細地將其分割創造出「米」這個單位。由此產生的計量系統，即現在所稱的公制，極具創新性，並在當時受到國際社會的歡迎。然而，由於公制起源於法國的一部分土地，美國便決定不採納。19世紀，當世界上其他國家開始接受公制時，美國國會也美國國會也一度提案要改用這套系統。然而，在這個時候，美國的實業家早已採用美制系統為自己的工廠添購設備。為了避免系統改革造成巨額的損失，這些實業家利用他們的影響力在19和20世紀期間遊說國會議員別改系統。時至今日，儘管許多科學家和組織已經承認了國際通用公制的便捷性，美國校園裡教的依然是美制系統。
來源：https://www.rd.com/article/why-u-s-doesnt-use-metric-system/
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