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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what region of the United States are Spanish names corrupted, as Dutch names are in New York?
(a) Southeast.
(b) Southwest.
(c) Midwest.
(d) Northwest.

2. Which of the following does Wilcox not list as a negative treatment of the English language by grammarians?
(a) Excessive classification.
(b) Excessive revision.
(c) Excessive inflection.
(d) Multiplication of terms for a single conception.

3. Who is the author of "A Doll's House," who puts bad grammar into Nora Helmar's mouth?
(a) Ibsen.
(b) Mencken.
(c) Shaw.
(d) Chesterton.

4. In what year did Noah Webster die?
(a) 1912.
(b) 1799.
(c) 1843.
(d) 1898.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Which still-popular German given name survives today, with a slight change in spelling, as Mencken reports in Chapter 10.2?

3. What purpose does the double negative primarily serve?

4. What is the name of the professor who advocates the assimilation and alteration of the spelling and accentuation of foreign words?

5. In what location does Mencken say both the American and English orthographies flourish side by side?

(see the answer keys)

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