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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the author feel there is a lack of among English native speakers?
(a) To teach English to foreigners
(b) To read documents in Old English
(c) To learn other languages
(d) To learn new words each year

2. Translations between English and ______________ are particularly difficult.
(a) German
(b) Japanese
(c) Chinese
(d) Italian

3. What shows up in versions of early dictionaries?
(a) The author's personality
(b) Conflicts
(c) Judgments
(d) Errors

4. English grammar rules are based on what?
(a) Celtic
(b) Old English
(c) Oxford University guidelines
(d) Latin

5. What element guides generational language?
(a) Regionalism
(b) Colloquialisms
(c) Superiority
(d) Pop culture

6. The tendency to change names and pronunciations occurs _____________________.
(a) China
(b) In Britain and America
(c) Germany
(d) Italy

7. What else is difficult to determine about the English language?
(a) How many words the average person knows
(b) How slang develops
(c) How each word is altered by region
(d) What is determined to be proper

8. Historians show real _______________ by piecing together a record of the human community without definitive proof.
(a) creativity
(b) confidence
(c) assertiveness
(d) dishonesty

9. Many modern swear words come from _________________________.
(a) anger
(b) polite speech
(c) uneducated people
(d) misunderstandings

10. What is the result of the shift mentioned in #150?
(a) The words are dropped from everyday use
(b) The dictionary cannot keep up with the changes
(c) New words have to be invented
(d) Modern names look or are spelled in contrast to original meanings

11. Words that enter American and British vocabularies generally come from what country?
(a) America
(b) England
(c) France
(d) Italy

12. What is one of the organizations that has failed as a grammar regulatory force?
(a) Academie Francaise
(b) United Nations
(c) Oxford University
(d) Harvard University

13. What can be misused even by experts on the topic?
(a) Punctuation
(b) English grammar
(c) Synonyms
(d) Spelling

14. What is another major language issue in North America?
(a) Assimilation of immigrant groups
(b) No dictionaries
(c) Regional colloquialisms
(d) No printing presses

15. Why are the speakers in #140 becoming a minority?
(a) Because of the financial investment necessary to study
(b) Because of the limited applications for the language
(c) Because of the difficulty in learning the language
(d) Because of the interest in studying English around the world

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the author what will happen when English comes into its own as a modern language of international importance?

2. American names adapt and change to suit _______________________ pronunciation and spelling patterns.

3. What do the British borrow from American English?

4. A trend seen on both sides of the Atlantic is that of _________________________.

5. English is changed through _____________________.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 438 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample