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

2. 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.

3. The Puritans were most highly concentrated where?
(a) East Anglia.
(b) Wessex.
(c) New Hampshire.
(d) Northumbria.

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

5. Who brought the English language to Britain, according to Chapter 2, The Mother Tongue?
(a) Roman tribes.
(b) Asian tribes.
(c) Germanic tribes.
(d) Celts.

Short Answer Questions

1. Approximately how many people speak English as their first language today?

2. Global English is either British or what?

3. What is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims?

4. What committee was formed to make decisions regarding standard English pronunciation for broadcasting in England?

5. When was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the authors assert is the common ancestry of all languages? What happened to most of them?

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

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

4. What is the difficulty of explaining sounds of language, according to the authors? What resources can help the reader in grasping dialect?

5. What do the authors of The Story of English rely upon to relate the history of the English language?

6. What examples do the authors give in Chapter 1, An English-Speaking World for the history of success of the English language?

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

8. What cultural wars and battles helped to create the English language, according to the authors in Chapter 2, The Mother Tongue?

9. Who spread the English language to the west initially? Who are their descendants?

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

(see the answer keys)

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