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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 invades England in 1066?
(a) The Romans
(b) The Norwegians
(c) The French
(d) The Normans

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

3. During Norman rule, which words are appropriate for the upper class to use?
(a) Irish
(b) Danish
(c) French
(d) Italian

4. The differences between languages bring up questions about what?
(a) Their ease of use
(b) Their purpose
(c) Their clarity
(d) Their origins and place within the human story

5. What is often cited as an equalizing force in English?
(a) The lack of grammatical gender
(b) Latin derivatives
(c) Sentence structure
(d) Tenses

Short Answer Questions

1. In addition to linguistic differences in languages, there are also ________________________.

2. In what American city do people speak with slurred words that make them almost impossible to understand?

3. On what principle are cliches based?

4. The English writing system developed from what?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What event prompted the usage of standardized spelling in England?

2. What is so interesting about the way human speech has spread around the world?

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

4. What is another method of explaining where words come from?

5. Explain how the language of one people can can change over time.

6. Explain the impact of the Viking invasion of England?

7. What irony does the author point out in Americans emulating British English?

8. What measures can people take when exact pronunciations are critical?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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