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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 2.3 | Chapter 2.4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What use of storage was added to the American meaning of the word "barn?"
(a) Crops.
(b) Horses.
(c) Chickens.
(d) Cattle.

2. Which of the following did the African slaves NOT introduce to American English?
(a) Voodoo.
(b) Gumbo.
(c) Banjo.
(d) Goober.

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) To advocate.
(c) Free endorsement.
(d) To indulge.

4. Which London newspaper lamented the "menace" that American movies offer to the purity of the English language?
(a) The <i>Illustrated London News</i>.
(b) The <i>Daily Herald</i>.
(c) The <i>Times</i>.
(d) The <i>Daily News</i>.

5. To what continent does Mencken attribute the acknowledgment of the differences between American and British English?
(a) North America.
(b) Europe.
(c) Asia.
(d) South America.

Short Answer Questions

1. Mencken claims that Noah Webster contains less of the scientific inquirer and more of what?

2. What is the principal reason Mencken states that the English language has not greatly diverged since the foundation of the United States of America?

3. Who is the author of "Dissertations on the English Language"?

4. Which European language has exerted the most influence on the American language?

5. According to Mencken, what did the first generations born in the New World value as a virtue over enterprise and resourcefulness?

(see the answer key)

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