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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 2, The Mother Tongue.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who were among the first English-speaking migrants to the west and their descendants live in Cornwall, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Brittany?
(a) The Germans.
(b) The Indians.
(c) The Romans.
(d) The Celts.

2. What threatened Britain's Celtic chiefs after the withdrawal of the Romans?
(a) Christian warriors.
(b) Greek tribes.
(c) Islamic tribes.
(d) Germanic tribes.

3. How many people spoke English in Shakespeare's time?
(a) 5-7 million.
(b) 8-10 million.
(c) 10-15 million.
(d) 3-4 million.

4. Which of the early Germanic tribes lived in Northern Germany?
(a) Frisii.
(b) Celti.
(c) Anglii.
(d) Buchi.

5. Northern Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands produced their own language tree that divided into what and German?
(a) Welsh.
(b) English.
(c) Celtic.
(d) Norse.

Short Answer Questions

1. What great-grandfather of rap does Robert McCrum write is largely forgotten?

2. Linguists know that languages spoken by around how much of humanity came from a common Indo-European source?

3. The English language was formed through how many invasions?

4. When was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand?

5. What is the name of the dialect generally associated with the British working class?

(see the answer key)

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