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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What helps a listener and speaker to use the correct word when in doubt?
(a) Trial and error
(b) A dictionary
(c) A friend
(d) Context

2. What is common to most English speakers?
(a) Slurring
(b) Stuttering
(c) Dropping end letters
(d) Talking too fast

3. English in the United Kingdom is more _____________ than it is in the United States.
(a) regulated
(b) proper
(c) varied
(d) stilted

4. What brings some sort of uniformity to spelling and language?
(a) The Constitution
(b) Newspapers
(c) The printing press
(d) McGuffy's Reader

5. Why could the Neanderthals not keep up with the Cro-Magnons?
(a) They could not run as fast
(b) They couldn't communicate with the same complexity
(c) Their brains were not as big
(d) They did not have fire

6. Languages around the world contain common ______________________.
(a) foundations
(b) vowels
(c) verb tenses
(d) consonants

7. What does Chomsky think are innate in children?
(a) Rhyming capabilities
(b) The tendencies to be dyslexic
(c) "Ground rules" that help them learn language
(d) Several language barriers

8. The author decides it is ______________ to divide the U.S. into distinct accents.
(a) frustrating
(b) futile
(c) fun
(d) easy

9. The Celts are strongly influenced by which culture?
(a) French
(b) Norwegian
(c) Roman
(d) Germanic

10. What allows a speaker to express class status?
(a) Antonyms
(b) Synonyms
(c) Sentence structure
(d) Accents

11. In the English language, what has a range of possibilities not available in other languages?
(a) A vowel system
(b) A wide alphabet
(c) Consonants
(d) Adverbs

12. Language has the ability to do what?
(a) Go beyond national borders
(b) Create peace among countries
(c) Unite global communities
(d) Expand and grow

13. What is onomatopoeia?
(a) A culinary trend
(b) A word which represents the sound of something
(c) A new insect genus
(d) The predecessor of Cro-Magnon man

14. The pronunciations of many words in America reflect what speakers think British speakers say and _______________________.
(a) ignores them
(b) tries to do the opposite
(c) rejects them outright
(d) attempts to imitate them

15. How do some linguists think that children learn their languages?
(a) By their heritage
(b) By imitating their parents
(c) Natural tendencies
(d) By osmosis

Short Answer Questions

1. From what do most languages derive?

2. During Norman rule, which words are appropriate for the upper class to use?

3. Which words are appropriate for the common people to use?

4. What combines with vowels to make pronunciation rules difficult to define?

5. What about the English language gives users greater range of expression?

(see the answer keys)

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