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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many words were contained in "A Table Alphabeticall?"
(a) 100,000.
(b) 22,278.
(c) 50,000.
(d) 2,500.

2. What word book by Robert Cawdrey was published first in 1604?
(a) A Table Alphabeticall.
(b) The Written Word.
(c) The English Language.
(d) Oxford English Dictionary.

3. What word book by James Murray was first published in 1879?
(a) Oxford English Dictionary.
(b) The First Language.
(c) A Table Alphabeticall.
(d) The Birth of Writing.

4. How did the drummers of Africa differentiate between similar words?
(a) The drummer added short descriptive phrases.
(b) The drummer added special emphasis.
(c) The main drummer was assisted by another drummer.
(d) The drummer had to let those receiving the message figure out the right words.

5. What were the interests of Charles Babbage, a brilliant Englishman who lived in the 19th century?
(a) The history of discovery and travel.
(b) Prose and poetry.
(c) Philosophy and psychology.
(d) Mathematics, engineering, cryptography, railroads, and industrial machinery.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who invented the telegraph?

2. What was the goal of James Murray when he wrote the first Oxford English Dictionary in 1879?

3. How many years ago was the first language established?

4. Who was the sixth editor of the Oxford English Dictionary?

5. What culture was the first to use a written language?

(see the answer key)

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