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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Higgins think of the way the Flower Girl speaks?
(a) It is disgusting and depressing, and an insult to the English language.
(b) He thinks she has a natural poetic gift.
(c) It makes her sound uneducated, but it is quaint and cute.
(d) He is offended by the curse words she uses, saying it is improper for a lady.

2. What is NOT one of Henry Higgins's faults?
(a) He is careless about other people's feelings.
(b) He is willing to be malicious and cruel in order to get ahead.
(c) He can be a bully.
(d) He sometimes has tantrums when things go wrong.

3. What does Doolittle promise to do with the money?
(a) Buy something for his wife.
(b) Spend it all immediately on a drinking spree.
(c) Keep it for Liza.
(d) Save it and use it wisely.

4. What does Higgins say he can do for the Flower Girl (Liza)?
(a) He can make her a Duchess.
(b) He can teach her to speak properly.
(c) He can give her a proper education.
(d) He can make her rich.

5. Why does Liza become upset with Higgins?
(a) He knocks over her basket of flowers.
(b) He makes fun of her accent in front of everyone.
(c) She thinks he's spying on her for the police.
(d) He won't give her any money.

6. What is the Flower Girl selling?
(a) Daisies.
(b) Roses.
(c) Poppies.
(d) Violets.

7. What does Higgins ask Mrs. Pearce to do with Liza's clothing?
(a) Burn it at once.
(b) Wash it in boiling water to kill the mites.
(c) Sew it so that it doesn't look so raggedy.
(d) Throw it away.

8. What should happen with the spelling of the English language, according to Shaw?
(a) It should be made as phonetic as Spanish.
(b) It should be emphasized more in school so that everyone can learn to spell correctly.
(c) It should be simplified to get rid of silent letters.
(d) Standardized spelling should disregarded as unnecessary; people should simply sound out words and apply the approximate phonetic spelling.

9. How is Henry Higgins described?
(a) He is young and handsome, but sloppy in his dress.
(b) He is about forty years old, strong and energetic.
(c) He is thin and feeble, but has a strong scientific mind.
(d) He is elderly and distinguished, with the appearance of a scholar.

10. When does Shaw first become interested in the subject of phonetics?
(a) In the 1850s.
(b) Around 1890.
(c) Around 1910.
(d) In the 1870s.

11. Based on what you read in the Preface, with which of the following statements do you think Shaw would agree?
(a) Truly great art should not seek to be commercially successful.
(b) Great art cannot please everyone; there will always be some wiseacres who cannot appreciate it.
(c) All great art must be didactic; that is, it should teach people something.
(d) Great art should not seek to teach lessons, but to entertain.

12. What is the strange man (Higgins) doing behind the pillar?
(a) Spying on Liza.
(b) Taking notes.
(c) Waiting for a taxicab.
(d) Hiding from the police.

13. How do the bystanders treat Liza when she becomes upset?
(a) They completely ignore her as if she is invisible.
(b) They are sympathetic to her and defend her.
(c) They tell her to get lost because she is a worthless flower girl.
(d) They are shocked by her bad language.

14. What does Higgins tempt Liza with just as she is about to leave?
(a) A purse full of coins.
(b) A chocolate.
(c) A diamond ring.
(d) New clothes.

15. To Shaw, what is the main advantage of Henry Sweet's "Current Shorthand"?
(a) Everyone is familiar with it, as it is widely taught in secretarial schools.
(b) It can be used as a kind of secret code or cryptogram.
(c) It can be used on postcards, where there is limited space to write.
(d) It can express every sound in the language perfectly.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Freddy looking for at the beginning of Act 1?

2. What does Higgins say about women?

3. Who is Henry Sweet?

4. What does Shaw try to do for Sweet?

5. Which is true of Pygmalion at the time Shaw wrote his Preface?

(see the answer keys)

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