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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is quoted from his Preface to A Dictionary of the English Language in the Introduction?
(a) Dr. Samuel Johnson.
(b) William Cran.
(c) Anderson Williams.
(d) Daniel Webster.

2. What style of music was the invention of the Scots-Irish?
(a) Jazz.
(b) Hip-hop.
(c) Country.
(d) Blues.

3. Which of the four ethnic groups that invaded Scotland during the Dark Ages united the kingdom?
(a) The Illiuni.
(b) The Asti.
(c) The Finni.
(d) The Scotti.

4. When did Robert MacNeil retire, according to his bio in the Introduction?
(a) 1998.
(b) 1995.
(c) 1992.
(d) 1990.

5. What committee was formed to make decisions regarding standard English pronunciation for broadcasting in England?
(a) NCAA.
(b) ACCE.
(c) ACSE.
(d) NACP.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did Queen Elizabeth die?

2. Whose followers are known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached anticlerical and biblically-centered reforms?

3. What television entertainer does Robert McCrum claim is the lineal descendant of Amos and Andy?

4. The English language was formed through how many invasions?

5. Global English is either British or what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the authors assert is the common ancestry of all languages? What happened to most of them?

2. What is the difficulty of explaining sounds of language, according to the authors? What resources can help the reader in grasping dialect?

3. Samuel Johnson's dictionary had what impact on the Scottish dialect? What were Johnson's experiences in Scotland?

4. What did James I do to reduce the rule of Celtic chiefs in Ulster?

5. What impact did the invasion of the Anglo-Saxons have on the Celtic language? Why?

6. Who was William Shakespeare and what impact did he have on the English language?

7. How do we know how the English language sounded hundreds of years ago? What do the authors relate about grammatical shifts in the Introduction?

8. Who spread the English language to the west initially? Who are their descendants?

9. What examples do the authors give in Chapter 1, An English-Speaking World for the history of success of the English language?

10. How many definitions were in the original Johnson's dictionary? What was it drawn from?

(see the answer keys)

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