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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. From what disease did William's mother die?
(a) Tuberculosis.
(b) Cancer.
(c) Lyme's disease.
(d) Typhoid fever.

2. How many years later did the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary come out after the original?
(a) Thirty-eight years.
(b) Forty-five years.
(c) Fifty years.
(d) Thirty years.

3. In what year did the making of the Oxford English Dictionary begin?
(a) 1847.
(b) 1856.
(c) 1853.
(d) 1857.

4. In what area of New London does the story open?
(a) Hampshire.
(b) Derry.
(c) West Chester.
(d) Lambert Marsh.

5. Many critics find the Oxford English Dictionary to be ______________.
(a) Ridiculous and sexist.
(b) Thoughtless and ridiculous.
(c) Racist and sexist.
(d) Strange and racist.

6. 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 mask and was carrying a blade.
(c) He wore a black cloak and was carrying a blade.
(d) He wore a black mask and was carrying a gun.

7. The Minor family came to the United States only a decade after what group of people?
(a) The Pilgrims.
(b) Spanish Conquistadors.
(c) Native Americans.
(d) King Louis XII's missionaries.

8. What was the driving force behind Minor's spiral into "lust, madness, and perdition"?
(a) The gambling scene in Ceylon.
(b) The women of Ceylon.
(c) The constant moving of his family.
(d) The drug culture of Ceylon.

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

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

11. Lucy was born to the Minors __________after William's birth.
(a) Six years.
(b) Two years.
(c) Three years.
(d) One year.

12. What did the killer do immediately upon being arrested by police?
(a) Confessed.
(b) Laughed uncontrollably.
(c) Fell asleep.
(d) Tried to escape.

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

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

15. Murray was born next to the border of _________.
(a) France.
(b) Panama.
(c) Ireland.
(d) Scotland.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who heard the three shots fired in the beginning of the book?

2. According to Chapter 5, which dictionary far surpassed all that came before it?

3. Who wrote A Dictionary of the English Language?

4. In Chapter 2, The Man Who Taught Latin to Cattle, who is introduced as the first protagonist?

5. What was the idea behind the Philological Society?

(see the answer keys)

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