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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. James VI of Scotland became James I of England in what year?
(a) 1557.
(b) 1603.
(c) 1596.
(d) 1702.

2. Whose followers are known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached anticlerical and biblically-centered reforms?
(a) Samuel Johnson's.
(b) John Wycliffe's.
(c) Daniel Webster's.
(d) James Calvin's.

3. What television entertainer does Robert McCrum claim is the lineal descendant of Amos and Andy?
(a) Ali G.
(b) Dave Chapelle.
(c) Eddie Murphy.
(d) Borat.

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

5. When did Elizabeth become Queen of England?
(a) 1493.
(b) 1530.
(c) 1830.
(d) 1558.

Short Answer Questions

1. Johnson took on the established dictionaries of European language and decisively exceeded them through how many years of work?

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

3. 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?

4. What was the first successful English settlement on the mainland of North America?

5. English is the official language of how many countries?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What time frame is embodied by the Elizabethan period? What advances took place in English during this time?

4. How do we know how the English language sounded hundreds of years ago? What do the authors relate about grammatical shifts in the Introduction?

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

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

7. What do the authors write of the advances from broadcasting on English in Chapter 1, An English-Speaking World?

8. What myths do the authors dispel about the English language in Chapter 1, An English-Speaking World?

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

10. What do the authors write of the Puritans in Chapter 2, The Mother Tongue? Where were they located?

(see the answer keys)

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