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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Where was Shakespeare born and raised?
(a) London.
(b) Essex.
(c) Wilforshire.
(d) Stratford-upon-Avon.

3. Who wrote The American Language?
(a) William Cran.
(b) Dr. Samuel Johnson.
(c) Daniel Webster.
(d) H.L. Mencken.

4. When was the Education Act passed in the United Kingdom?
(a) 1655.
(b) 1923.
(c) 1789.
(d) 1833.

5. The Story of English was created alongside a nine-part television series for what network?
(a) ABC.
(b) CBS.
(c) PBS.
(d) NBC.

Short Answer Questions

1. By what year were nearly half of the English literate, according to Chapter 3, A Muse of Fire?

2. What is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island?

3. Robert McCrum writes in the Introduction, "Language, we know, is in ceaseless ____."

4. When was Jonathan Swift born?

5. What is the first of the five points of Calvinism?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was William Shakespeare and what impact did he have on the English language?

2. What myths relating to the English language do the authors hope to dispel, according to the Introduction?

3. What do the authors preface regarding the style of the text in their Introduction?

4. Which group of Scots first spoke English? Where did it arrive from?

5. What do the authors write of the New World and its influence on English in Chapter 2, The Mother Tongue?

6. What did James I do to reduce the rule of Celtic chiefs in Ulster?

7. Samuel Johnson's dictionary had what impact on the Scottish dialect? What were Johnson's experiences in Scotland?

8. What do the authors assert about the state of flux of the English language in the Introduction?

9. When was the Scottish tongue at its peak? What caused its downfall?

10. What is notable about the standardization of English throughout history? What examples do the authors give in Chapter 1, An English-Speaking World?

(see the answer keys)

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