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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many quotations were in the original Dictionary of the English Language?
(a) 300,000.
(b) 100,000.
(c) 120,000.
(d) 114,000.

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

3. Where was the Archduke Ferdinand assassinated?
(a) Sarajevo.
(b) Paris.
(c) New York.
(d) London.

4. Robert McCrum was Editor-in-Chief of what publishing house from 1979-1996?
(a) Simon and Schuster.
(b) Penguin.
(c) Faber and Faber.
(d) Fitzgerald and Fitzgerald.

5. What is the first of the five points of Calvinism?
(a) Love of God.
(b) Forgiveness.
(c) Release of sin.
(d) Total depravity.

6. When was the original edition of The Story of English published?
(a) 1975.
(b) 1980.
(c) 1986.
(d) 1990.

7. When was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand?
(a) 1789.
(b) 1914.
(c) 1925.
(d) 1919.

8. 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?
(a) The Rensaissance.
(b) The Dark Ages.
(c) The Inquisition.
(d) The Restoration.

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

10. How many novels has Robert MacNeil written, according to the Introduction?
(a) 2.
(b) 3.
(c) 5.
(d) 1.

11. English is the official language of how many countries?
(a) 25.
(b) 43.
(c) 53.
(d) 34.

12. What committee was formed to make decisions regarding standard English pronunciation for broadcasting in England?
(a) ACSE.
(b) ACCE.
(c) NACP.
(d) NCAA.

13. The establishment of what was an important moment for English as word choices had to be made for standard broadcasting?
(a) BBC.
(b) PBS.
(c) NBC.
(d) CBS.

14. 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 fourth.
(d) One third.

15. Which novelist defined English language fanatics as "Snoots"?
(a) David Foster Wallace.
(b) Jonathan Swift.
(c) Mark Twain.
(d) James Alexander Wallace.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do the authors claim denote information about a speaker's life and career and explain community values?

2. Who wrote The American Language?

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

4. Who remain the most direct descendants of the Celts?

5. Who initiated the English Reformation?

(see the answer keys)

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