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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Epilogue, Next Year's Words.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who published the Dictionary of the English Language in 1755?
(a) Daniel Webster.
(b) Samuel Johnson.
(c) James Joyce.
(d) Daniel Johnson.

2. When did the American Civil War begin?
(a) 1795.
(b) 1856.
(c) 1861.
(d) 1845.

3. What is a term used for both dialects of English and English-based pidgins and creoles, and whose meaning depends considerably upon the context, and particularly the part of the world?
(a) Native English.
(b) Nonstandard English.
(c) Black English.
(d) Pidgin English.

4. When did Queen Elizabeth die?
(a) 1600.
(b) 1595.
(c) 1650.
(d) 1603.

5. Which variant was most likely the first pidgin English?
(a) Jamaican.
(b) West African.
(c) Haitian.
(d) Cajun.

Short Answer Questions

1. When was Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated?

2. What word refers to a cultural item that is transmitted by repetition in a manner analogous to the biological transmission of genes?

3. The establishment of what was an important moment for English as word choices had to be made for standard broadcasting?

4. The Scots of the Lowlands first spoke a form of English brought by the Angles of Northumbria mixed with four ethnic groups that invaded during what period?

5. Who initiated the English Reformation?

(see the answer key)

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