def file_words(filename):
    my_file = open(filename, "r")
    result = 0

    for line in my_file:
        words = line.split()
        result = result + len(words)

    my_file.close()
    return result

def main():
    name = "file1.txt"
    number_of_words = file_words(name)
    print("the number of words is:", number_of_words)

main()