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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who was the sixth editor of the Oxford English Dictionary?
(a) Mark Twain.
(b) Lord Byron.
(c) John Simpson.
(d) Thomas Edison.

2. What was the goal of James Murray when he wrote the first Oxford English Dictionary in 1879?
(a) To catalog the entire English language.
(b) To limit the work to only proper English.
(c) To alphabetize all words.
(d) To provide the pronunciation of all words.

3. While working on plans for this "analytical engine," Babbage struck an acquaintance with what individual?
(a) Lord Byron.
(b) Ada Lovelace.
(c) Isaac Newton.
(d) John Simpson.

4. Why did businessmen immediately take to the telegraph?
(a) Businesses did not have to hire as many workers.
(b) Businessmen could save money on travel expenses.
(c) Orders no longer had to be hand written.
(d) Orders and market information could be transmitted quickly over long distances.

5. What was changing language at the time the first English dictionary was developed?
(a) Travel and conquest.
(b) International trade.
(c) Increased population.
(d) Advanced education.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where was knowledge stored prior to the written word?

2. What was provided in "A Table Alphabeticall"?

3. Why were there so many message errors with the early telegraph?

4. Gleick presents his intention to trace the growth of both the concept of information and information itself by identifying what key elements?

5. What word book by James Murray was first published in 1879?

Short Essay Questions

1. How was the "telephone number" born?

2. What did Claude Shannon create from examining the statistical makeup of the English language?

3. Who first conceived the idea of a machine that could think and under what circumstances?

4. What was the purpose of Cawdrey's wordbook, "A Table Alphabeticall?"

5. Who was Claude Shannon?

6. Who invented the telegraph and what is its fundamental functionality?

7. What advanced form of communication was beginning to emerge in the 1840s?

8. What are the two "wordbooks" that Gleick refers to in this chapter?

9. What technological breakthrough resulted from Claude Shannon's theories and work?

10. What culture developed the earliest known method of writing language with the use of pictures to represent things?

(see the answer keys)

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