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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did Murray spend most of his childhood?
(a) Traveling.
(b) Singing with a group.
(c) Playing soccer with an elite team.
(d) Being alone.

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

3. In Chapter 2, the author gives a detailed description of what word?
(a) Love.
(b) Protagonist.
(c) Murder.
(d) Antgonist.

4. The Oxford Dictionary was comprised of _____________volumes.
(a) Six.
(b) Eight.
(c) Twelve.
(d) Nine.

5. Merrett's killer was from ______________.
(a) Portland, Maine.
(b) Seattle, Washington.
(c) New Haven, Connecticut.
(d) New York, New York.

6. How many slips of paper came in from volunteers who wanted to add to the newly proposed dictionary?
(a) Fifty thousand.
(b) Six million.
(c) Twelve thousand.
(d) One million.

7. On what notable holiday did the making of the Oxford English Dictionary begin?
(a) May Day.
(b) Guy Fawke's Day.
(c) Christmas Day.
(d) The Queen's Birthday.

8. Trench argued that dictionaries should be histories of the life span of every word and that these lives should be ______.
(a) Charted.
(b) Ended.
(c) Given.
(d) Explained.

9. How long after the Minors settled in Ceylon was William Minor born?
(a) Two years.
(b) Five weeks.
(c) Three months.
(d) One year.

10. What was the tragedy of the three shots fired named by the papers?
(a) "The Strategery."
(b) "The Great Tragedy."
(c) "The Tragedy of London."
(d) "The Lambeth Tragedy."

11. Who killed Merrett?
(a) William Chester Minor.
(b) James Chester Minor.
(c) John Washington Wilcox.
(d) Chester James Wilcox.

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

13. In Chapter 2, The Man Who Taught Latin to Cattle, who is introduced as the first protagonist?
(a) Mr. Merrett.
(b) Dr. Murray.
(c) Dr. Minor.
(d) Mrs. Scott.

14. What did Merrett's killer claim about the murder?
(a) It was in self defense.
(b) He was too drunk to know what was happening.
(c) He had been waiting to do that for some time.
(d) It was easy.

15. When was Minor born?
(a) June, 1834.
(b) May, 1832.
(c) March, 1831.
(d) January, 1842.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many years later did the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary come out after the original?

2. In what century did demand for dictionaries increase?

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

4. What would the definitive quotes show in the Oxford English Dictionary?

5. For what purpose was Murray asked to go to Oxford?

(see the answer keys)

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