| Prefix | | v. |
| Contents | | vii |
| PART ONE : GENERAL ACCOUNT |
| I . INTRODUCTORY :Basic English by Question and Answer |
| 1 . What is Basic English? | 3 |
| 2 . What is its Purpose? | 4 |
| 3 . Why 850 Words? | 4 |
| 4 . Why English Words | 5 |
| 5 . What about Grammar? | 5 |
| 6 . How can you get rid of Verbs? | 5 |
| 7 . How does Basic deal with Technical matters? | 6 |
| 8 . How will Spoken Basic be Standardized? | 8 |
| 9 . How will the English-speaking peoples learn Basic? | 8 |
| 10 . What is Basic English like? | 8 |
| 11 . What about Esperanto? | 10 |
| 12 . Why not Latin? | 11 |
| 13 . Can Basic be Learned by Children? | 11 |
| 14 . How does Basic deal with the problem of Idiom? | 12 |
| 15 . What is the Basic policy as regards Spelling reform? | 13 |
| 16 . How has Basic been received abroad? | 15 |
| II . BASIC AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE |
| 1 . Babel | 18 |
| 2 . Views of Leading Authorities | 19 |
| 3 . Facts and Figures | 22 |
| 4 . Debablization | 32 |
| |
| PART TWO . THE SYSTEM |
| THE A B C OF BASIC ENGLISH (full contents) | 35 |
Simple step by step account of the 850 Words, the rules and grammar,
including special uses; all in Basic | 36
|
| |
| PART THREE . EXAMPLES |
| I . RADIO, NEWSPAPERS, MOTION PICTURES |
| 1 . "The Radio Presidents" | 139 |
| 2 . President Roosevelt on the Banks, from Radio Talk
|
| a . in President Roosevelt's words and b . in Basic | 142 |
| 3 . "Psychiatry Good and Bad" | 152 |
| 4 . "Numbers and Reason" | 153 |
| 5 . "Talking is now Possible" | 155 |
| 6 . Selection from a motion picture scene, "Cradle Song" | 156 |
| II . THE NEWCOMER |
| 1 . Railway Station | 169 |
| 2 . Hotel | 171 |
| 3 . Bank | 174 |
| 4 . Restaurant | 176 |
| III . EVERYDAY |
| 1 . Meeting on the Street | 180 |
| 2 . At the Stores | 182 |
| 3 . At the Bookstore | 185 |
| 4 . At the Moving-Picture House | 188 |
| 5 . At the Theatre | 190 |
| 6 . At the Dance | 193 |
| 7 . A Day in the Country | 196 |
| IV . BUSINESS |
| Examples of 27 Business Letters | 201 Basic For Business |
| V . SCIENCE |
| 1 . "The Chemical History of Candle," from Faraday | 223 |
| 2 . "On Scales." from Haldane | 233 |
| 3 . Discoveries and Inventions | 237 |
| VI . ECONOMICS |
| Selection from Malthus | 242 |
| VII . POLITICAL QUESTIONS |
| 1 . "The A B C of War Payments," from Wickham Steed | 247 |
| 2 . The Kellogg Pact | 251 |
| VIII. MEETINGS |
| Opening Talk at the Banff Conference (1933)
of the Institute of Pacific Relations | 254
|
| IX . RELIGION |
| 1 . "The Making of the Earth" | 264 |
| 2 . "Adam and Eve" | 266 |
| 3 . "Ruth" | 270 |
| 4 . "Birth of Christ" | 277 |
| X . STORIES |
| 1 . "Crusoe Come to His Island" from Defoe | 280 |
| 2 . "Macbeth" from Lamb | 286 |
| 3 . "The Future of Basic" from H. G. Wells | 298 |
| |
| APPENDIX : |
| The Basic WORD WHEEL | 305 |
| INDEX TO THE BASIC WORDS | 309 |
| GENERAL INDEX | 319 |