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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Mencken, how do the Americans consider the precise English use of the indefinite pronoun ("one")?
(a) Ambiguously.
(b) Disdainfully.
(c) Apathetically.
(d) Respectfully.

2. Who proposed a generally accepted nomenclature for currency in 1785?
(a) Gouverneur Morris.
(b) Richard Grant White.
(c) Thomas Jefferson.
(d) Noah Webster.

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

4. How many dialects dominate American English, according to Chapter 1.5?
(a) Four.
(b) Ten.
(c) None.
(d) Two.

5. From what language does the English word "moose" come?
(a) Cherokee.
(b) Italian.
(c) English.
(d) Algonquin.

6. Who protested the adoption of the broad "a" in an 1857 work entitled "The Autocrat at the Breakfast Table"?
(a) Frank H. Vizetelly.
(b) Noah Webster.
(c) Richard Meade Bache.
(d) Oliver Wendell Holmes.

7. What moniker of currency has persisted in America despite having no currency properly of that name?
(a) Penny.
(b) Pence.
(c) Nickel.
(d) Bill.

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

9. According to the report of Beverley, what did a group of soldiers turn into after eating some Jimson Weed?
(a) Corpses.
(b) Somnambulists.
(c) Fools.
(d) Zombies.

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

11. In terms of politics, an American candidate "runs" for office. What does an English candidate do?
(a) Jumps.
(b) Sprints.
(c) Sits.
(d) Stands.

12. According to Mencken, democratic government is essentially government by whom?
(a) Businessmen.
(b) Amateurs.
(c) Politicians.
(d) The working class.

13. Which of the following groups of foreign immigrants does Mencken not attribute influence over American English in Chapter 6.4?
(a) Slavic peoples.
(b) Italians.
(c) South-Pacific Asian Islanders.
(d) Russian Jews.

14. What English word does the author of "Men and Manners" lament about the American re-signification?
(a) Clever.
(b) Buttock.
(c) College.
(d) Missionary.

15. Whose clarity of prevision does Mencken praise in the opening of Chapter 1.1?
(a) Franklin.
(b) Waldo.
(c) Jefferson.
(d) Madison.

Short Answer Questions

1. To what phrase did Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster, and Robert Southey object as a base Americanism, as discussed in Chapter 2.3?

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

3. What word best describes the English attitude towards the adoption of foreign loan-words, in contrast to the American attitude?

4. What is the universal substitute for the word "ye" as described in Chapter 6.2?

5. What vowel sound was dominant in 18th century New England pronunciation, despite common protests to the contrary?

(see the answer keys)

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