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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which double negative word is primarily found in Shakespeare?
(a) Nor.
(b) No.
(c) Not.
(d) Never.

2. What was the common, popular American slang word used for Germans during the First World War, according to Mencken?
(a) Boche.
(b) Hun.
(c) Kraut.
(d) Jerry.

3. For what word does Mencken say "incidence" is commonly mistaken to be a synonym?
(a) Similarity.
(b) Happening.
(c) Number.
(d) Story.

4. Whom does Mencken quote as saying, at the beginning of Chapter 10.4, "Such a locality as 'the <i>corner of Avenue H and Twenty-third street,</I> is about as distinctly American as Algonquin and Iroquois names like <i>Mississippi</i> and <i>Saratoga</i>"?
(a) Noah Webster.
(b) George Phillip Krapp.
(c) W.W. Crane.
(d) Charles Astor Bristed.

5. According to Chapter 8.4, what is the first impulse behind American imitation of English orthography?
(a) Convenience.
(b) Anti-colonialism.
(c) Compromise for cheaper printing.
(d) Affectation.

6. What sort of distinction frequently occurs between an adverb and its primary adjective?
(a) Lexical.
(b) Numerical.
(c) Pronunciation.
(d) Syntactical.

7. In what century did Americans begin to rebel against the capitalization trends dominant in England?
(a) The twentieth.
(b) The seventeenth.
(c) The eighteenth.
(d) The nineteenth.

8. In what part of the country did the Irish attain to a "truly impressive political power before the first native-born generation of them had grown up" as Mencken states in Chapter 10.1?
(a) The Western cities.
(b) The Midwest.
(c) The Eastern cities.
(d) The Southeast.

9. From which of the following have the English changed their spelling?
(a) Programme.
(b) Develope.
(c) Kilogramme.
(d) Gramme.

10. Which case of the noun in English yet has an inflection at the time of Mencken's writing?
(a) The accusative.
(b) The ablative.
(c) The genitive.
(d) The dative.

11. How is "Des Moines" pronounced in American, according to Mencken?
(a) "Dai-moins."
(b) "Dei-moyns."
(c) "Dee-moyns."
(d) "Dess-moyn."

12. To what does Mencken ascribe the inflection of English adjectives?
(a) Comparison.
(b) Emphasis.
(c) Frivolity.
(d) Convention.

13. Which of the following is often used in England to designate a thoroughfare?
(a) Boulevard.
(b) Lane.
(c) Drive.
(d) Avenue.

14. Mencken reports hearing of a German named "Knoche," who to avoid being called "Nokky," changed his name to what?
(a) Knowles.
(b) Nixon.
(c) Nock.
(d) Knox.

15. To what do English writers usually ascribe the American custom of numbering and lettering streets?
(a) Poverty of invention.
(b) Easiness.
(c) A lack of wit.
(d) Ingenuity.

Short Answer Questions

1. Mencken states that the "Meyers" are the "Smiths" of what country?

2. From what newspaper does Mencken derive the story with which he opens Chapter 11.2?

3. What military slang term refers to the sunburned necks of the Marines?

4. Which phrase did Oliver Wendell Holmes use to describe the state of the person who makes use of slang?

5. What leads most of the studies of the sounds of the American common speech astray, according to Mencken in Chapter 9.10?

(see the answer keys)

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