View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is Alexander Melville Bell?
(a) The inventor of the telephone.
(b) A playwright who was a rival of Shaw's.
(c) A phonetics expert who invented a phonetic spelling called Visible Speech.
(d) A London patriarch.

2. What does the Gentleman (Pickering) study?
(a) American and British slang.
(b) The psychology of poverty.
(c) Sociology, or the study of human social behavior.
(d) Dialects spoken in India.

3. What does Sweet send Shaw?
(a) Money.
(b) Postcards.
(c) Letters.
(d) Books.

4. According to Shaw, what can people do to get rid of their low-class accents?
(a) People should not try to get rid of their low-class accents; they should be proud of the way they speak.
(b) It cannot be done in real life.
(c) They should imitate people who speak proper English.
(d) They must be trained by a phonetics expert.

5. What is a problem with the English language, according to Shaw?
(a) It is difficult for foreigners to learn well.
(b) It is not spelled the way it should be pronounced.
(c) It is a vulgar language when compared to Latinate languages such as French.
(d) It doesn't have a beautiful sound when spoken.

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

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

8. Which of the following describes the Gentleman (later identified as Pickering)?
(a) He is snobbish and rude.
(b) He is young and dashing.
(c) He is an elderly, military type.
(d) He is dressed in a uniform.

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

10. When Liza comes to see Higgins in Act 2, what does she ask him to do?
(a) Make her into a duchess.
(b) Give her speech lessons.
(c) Return the money he took the night before.
(d) Help her open a flower shop.

11. What bet does Higgins make with Pickering?
(a) That he can pass Liza off as a lady at the ambassador's garden party.
(b) That he can teach Liza to speak perfect English in three weeks.
(c) That he can seduce Liza and make her fall in love with him in three months.
(d) That Liza will marry the Duke and become a Duchess.

12. Who is Henry Sweet?
(a) A sweet-tempered professor of language and literature.
(b) A high official who popularized the subject of phonetics.
(c) A phonetics expert whom Shaw admired.
(d) The editor of a monthly review.

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

14. Which comment does Shaw make about the realism in his play?
(a) Realism is the only style that can be respected in the theater.
(b) Realism is not to be found in the theater.
(c) A transformation like the one made by the heroine is very possible in real life.
(d) A transformation like the one made by the heroine is obviously not possible in real life.

15. Which of the following best describes Higgins's profession?
(a) Playwright.
(b) Linguist.
(c) Phoneticist.
(d) Sociologist.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Clara annoyed with her mother?

2. Which system does Shaw use to write his Preface?

3. Why can't Liza read what Higgins writes?

4. Which character in Pygmalion is based in part on Henry Sweet?

5. What happened to Liza's parents?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 689 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample