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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. According to the author, varieties of English are heavily influenced by what?
(a) ancestral reasons
(b) geographic reasons
(c) social reasons
(d) financial reasons

2. In what time period does the event from #67 occur?
(a) 1500s
(b) 1930s
(c) 1800s
(d) 1960s

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

4. The author finds that many languages _________________________.
(a) overlap geographically
(b) have many similarities
(c) are difficult to learn
(d) die out eventually

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does English manage to avoid that are present in other languages?

2. What happens when a group of native speakers dies out?

3. What can be spelled in a variety of ways?

4. The author tends to think that English is special because of ___________________________.

5. What can make learning English unnecessarily difficult?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the English language evolve in the British Isles or what is now known as the United Kingdom?

2. What does the author say is the reason some English words are created?

3. What is the result of attempting to draw demarcations of accents throughout the U.S.?

4. How can spelling in English be perceived as both simple and difficult?

5. Explain what the author means by the creation of language areas.

6. In what way does the author think varieties of English are influenced by social reasons?

7. Finally, what is the fourth method of explaining where words come from?

8. What is a third method of explaining where words come from?

9. How does the English language compare with the development and growth of other global languages?

10. How does the author account for the changing pronunciation of English over time?

(see the answer keys)

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