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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) geographic reasons
(b) social reasons
(c) financial reasons
(d) ancestral reasons

2. Which country has been successful in protecting its language?
(a) Ireland
(b) Italy
(c) France
(d) Wales

3. Because of the event of #67, the works of which two authors are especially difficult to understand?
(a) Chaucer and Hemingway
(b) Chaucer and Dante
(c) Chaucer and Shakespeare
(d) Dante and Shakespeare

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

5. What can be spelled in a variety of ways?
(a) adjectives
(b) adverbs
(c) names
(d) colloquialisms

Short Answer Questions

1. How many new words did Shakespeare invent?

2. Who tries to organize information about how people speak?

3. The author states that there are characteristics in the English language that ______________________________.

4. What is the difference between Cro-Magnon man and Neanderthal man?

5. According to the author, some words are formed out of __________________.

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the impact that slurring of speech has on English pronunciation?

2. How was the Cro-Magnon man able to supersede the Neanderthal man in human development?

3. What are the merits of using the English language?

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

5. What is the proof of the power of the English language in the modern world?

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

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

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

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

10. What was the Great Vowel Shift?

(see the answer keys)

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