Reformists during the spelling reform debate proposed two main approaches: enlarging the alphabet to reflect sounds or retraining the spelling system.

• A. Enlarge the current alphabet to reflect sounds
• B. Retrain the spelling system to reflect pronunciation
• C. Standardize punctuation across texts
• D. The current alphabet should be enlarged to reflect sounds and retrained

Answer: (D)

The main idea is that spelling reform debates often considered two complementary strategies: expanding the alphabet to represent more sounds more precisely, and changing the spelling system itself so it aligns more closely with pronunciation. The strongest answer captures both of these approaches in one statement, reflecting how reformists sometimes argued for adding letters to the alphabet while also retraining or redesigning the spelling rules to fit how words are spoken. Punctuation standardization isn’t part of these two main strategies for altering spelling, so focusing on that aspect would miss the central discussion. By asserting both enlarging the alphabet and retraining the spelling system, the option aligns with how reform proposals sought a more phonetic and systematic correspondence between speech and writing.