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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. For what newspaper is Robert McCrum listed as Literary Editor in the Introduction?
(a) The San Francisco Chronicle.
(b) The Observer.
(c) The New York Times.
(d) The London Times.

2. What is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims?
(a) Plymouth Rock.
(b) Philadelphia.
(c) Nina Maria.
(d) Ellis Island.

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

4. Old English has barely how many Celtic words?
(a) 12.
(b) 30.
(c) 20.
(d) 10.

5. After World War II, which national economy sent multinational corporations across the world and into NATO and the UN?
(a) American.
(b) French.
(c) British.
(d) Canadian.

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

7. Who is the author of Ivanhoe?
(a) Samuel Johnson.
(b) Sir Walter Scott.
(c) Andrew Webster.
(d) Robert Burns.

8. Who welcomed St. Augustine in England?
(a) King Skaronn.
(b) King Ferdinand.
(c) King Aethelbert.
(d) King Charles.

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

10. What do the authors claim denote information about a speaker's life and career and explain community values?
(a) Styles.
(b) Accents.
(c) Languages.
(d) Vocabularies.

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

12. What is another word for Old English?
(a) Medieval English.
(b) Englisc.
(c) Germanic.
(d) Celtic.

13. In Chapter 2, The Mother Tongue, the authors claim that the horse and the what spread the English language and caused its divergence?
(a) Poetry.
(b) Money.
(c) Fire.
(d) Wheel.

14. Which of the early Germanic tribes had speech that was Germanic and they lived Denmark?
(a) Frisii.
(b) Buchi.
(c) Anglii.
(d) Celti.

15. Linguists know that languages spoken by around how much of humanity came from a common Indo-European source?
(a) One fifth.
(b) One half.
(c) One third.
(d) One fourth.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did James I die?

2. Which of the early Germanic tribes lived in Northern Germany?

3. The first Dictionary of the English Language contained over how many definitions?

4. When was Jonathan Swift born?

5. Which of the four ethnic groups that invaded Scotland during the Dark Ages united the kingdom?

(see the answer keys)

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