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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 4.4 | Chapter 4.5.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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) Rooster.
(b) Railroad.
(c) Hog-pen.
(d) Freight.

2. Which European language has exerted the most influence on the American language?
(a) French.
(b) German.
(c) Italian.
(d) Spanish.

3. According to the tale spread by William Gifford, what language was supposed to be substituted for English during the Revolutionary War?
(a) Latin.
(b) Hebrew.
(c) Spanish.
(d) French.

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

5. The prudish reluctance to name what sort of diseases hindered proper preventative information?
(a) Cancerous.
(b) Psychological.
(c) Gastro-intestinal.
(d) Venereal.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which London newspaper lamented the "menace" that American movies offer to the purity of the English language?

2. Where was the broad "a" principally established prior to the Civil War?

3. How many dialects dominate American English, according to Chapter 1.5?

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

5. Which of the early presidents does Mencken identify as archetypal of the new American?

(see the answer key)

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