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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did the author describe the man who chased George Merrett on the night of his death?
(a) He wore a black jacket and was carrying a gun,
(b) He wore a black cloak and was carrying a blade.
(c) He wore a black mask and was carrying a blade.
(d) He wore a black mask and was carrying a gun.

2. Where were George Merrett and his wife originally from?
(a) Derry.
(b) Lambeth.
(c) Hampshire.
(d) Gloucestershire.

3. How did people contact the Philological Society in order to submit new words to the new dictionary?
(a) In person at the library.
(b) By letter.
(c) By telephone.
(d) By telegraph.

4. In what area of Ceylon did the Minors set up their residence in 1834?
(a) Doa.
(b) Cochin.
(c) Manepay.
(d) Trivandrum.

5. What were Merrett's killer's two former professional positions?
(a) Professor and army officer.
(b) Police officer and professor.
(c) Qualified surgeon and police officer..
(d) Army officer and qualified surgeon.

6. How does the author describe the words in the early English dictionaries in Chapter 4, Gathering Earth's Daughters?
(a) Simple and odd.
(b) Strange and simple.
(c) Poorly defined and too little.
(d) Odd and poorly defined.

7. How have many described the language of the Oxford English Dictionary?
(a) Complicated.
(b) Arrogant.
(c) Easy.
(d) Basic.

8. According to Chapter 5, which dictionary far surpassed all that came before it?
(a) The Oxford Cambridge Dictionary of English.
(b) The American Dictionary.
(c) The English Dictionary of America.
(d) The Oxford English Dictionary.

9. Who would publish the first Oxford English Dictionary?
(a) Harper and Row.
(b) Academic Press.
(c) Oxford University Press.
(d) Penguin Books.

10. What did Judith do professionally?
(a) She was a missionary.
(b) She was a house wife.
(c) She was a schoolteacher.
(d) She was a cook for the Ceylon military.

11. What central figure in the story happened across Murray's appeal to the English people in regards to the Oxford English Dictionary?
(a) Mr. Trench.
(b) Nakiesha Wilson.
(c) James Koss.
(d) Dr. William Minor.

12. How many supplements of the Oxford English Dictionary came out after the original?
(a) Six.
(b) Four.
(c) Five.
(d) Two.

13. How were Minor's and Murray's families similar?
(a) They did not have a father figure.
(b) They were both poor.
(c) They both ignored each man as a child.
(d) They were both deeply pious.

14. How did Mr. Trench define the importance of the English language insofar as Christianity?
(a) It was an essential, imperial device for the worldwide growth of Christianity.
(b) It functioned solely for Christians' usage only.
(c) It should be the least important language to true Christians.
(d) It was important to learn it for Christians.

15. When are the first Latin dictionaries noted to have been in existence?
(a) 1273.
(b) 1225.
(c) 1232.
(d) 1321.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the author, who is the "second" protagonist of the story?

2. Who arrested Merrett's killer?

3. How old was the man who killed Merrett?

4. In what city was Murray born?

5. When was the project to create the first Oxford English Dictionary commissioned?

(see the answer keys)

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