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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What sound did Webster object to inserting in words such as "gradual" and "nature," before the "u"?
(a) Ch.
(b) Y.
(c) Dh.
(d) T.

2. To what country does the English correspondent in Chapter 4.5 ascribe many American expletives?
(a) Sweden.
(b) Ireland.
(c) Germany.
(d) France.

3. To what phrase did Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster, and Robert Southey object as a base Americanism, as discussed in Chapter 2.3?
(a) To process.
(b) Free endorsement.
(c) To indulge.
(d) To advocate.

4. What language does Mencken quote Sidney Low as saying is not taught to English youth?
(a) Russian.
(b) Greek.
(c) American.
(d) Latin.

5. Which of the early presidents does Mencken identify as archetypal of the new American?
(a) Andrew Jackson.
(b) James Monroe.
(c) George Washington.
(d) Thomas Jefferson.

6. What word did the editor of the Westminster Gazette substitute for the incomprehensible dash in the mangled Americanism of Rupert Brooke?
(a) Jugs.
(b) Boots.
(c) Brains.
(d) Bottom.

7. Which Founding Father is said to have sought to establish a new American alphabet?
(a) Thomas Jefferson.
(b) George Washington.
(c) Benjamin Franklin.
(d) John Hancock.

8. How is the "portmanteau-word" formed?
(a) By finding the true root in the word.
(b) By mixing parts of words with the same meaning in different languages.
(c) By blending two words.
(d) By onomatopoeic creativity.

9. How do the English pronounce the first syllable in "lieutenant"?
(a) Loo.
(b) Lee-oo.
(c) Yeift.
(d) Left.

10. Which defender of Americanisms cited by Mencken in Chapter 1.3 states that "Language is made by the people"?
(a) George Ade.
(b) Edgar Jepson.
(c) Richard Aldington.
(d) William Archer.

11. What is the second characteristic that Mencken attributes to American English in Chapter 1.5?
(a) Translatability to British English.
(b) Disunity of regional dialects.
(c) Resistance to neologisms.
(d) Disregard of rule and precedent.

12. What is the English meaning of the Hawaiian word "lanai"?
(a) Garage.
(b) Balcony.
(c) Bathroom.
(d) Porch.

13. What is the principal reason Mencken states that the English language has not greatly diverged since the foundation of the United States of America?
(a) Transatlantic travel.
(b) Solidarity of higher education.
(c) Transatlantic communication.
(d) American neo-classical tastes.

14. Which Founding Father coined the term "to belittle"?
(a) James Madison.
(b) Thomas Jefferson.
(c) Alexander Hamilton.
(d) Benjamin Franklin.

15. Which term do English dictionaries all describe as an Americanism from the comparative list in Chapter 4.1, despite the English version being frequently used in America?
(a) Hog-pen.
(b) Freight.
(c) Rooster.
(d) Railroad.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the author of "Travels in North America," published in 1827?

2. Which is the first factor that Mencken identifies as an immediate impediment to the growth of the American language in Chapter 3.1?

3. What word in American is used for the English word "shoe?"

4. What term did John Witherspoon coin, framing it within the context of vulgarity?

5. Which of the following was not used as a substitute for the once indecent term, for highly refined ears, "bull"?

(see the answer keys)

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