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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 9.2 | Chapter 9.3.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what year did the National Education Association withdraw from the campaign for simplified spelling?
(a) 1914.
(b) 1907.
(c) 1899.
(d) 1921.

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

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

4. How many classifications of Americanisms does Bartlett postulate in his 1859 dictionary?
(a) Forty-two.
(b) Four.
(c) Nine.
(d) Three.

5. What country's works dominated the reading habits of the American colonists in the latter 18th century?
(a) France.
(b) Denmark.
(c) England.
(d) Germany.

Short Answer Questions

1. In terms of politics, an American candidate "runs" for office. What does an English candidate do?

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 sound did Webster object to inserting in words such as "gradual" and "nature," before the "u"?

4. Who does Mencken state are the true makers of grammar in Chapter 9.1?

5. According to the report of Beverley, what did a group of soldiers turn into after eating some Jimson Weed?

(see the answer key)

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