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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is considered the highest level of standardization of English, according to the authors in Chapter 1, An English-Speaking World?

2. RP was spoken by how much of the British population at the origination of BBC?

3. How many novels has Robert MacNeil written, according to the Introduction?

4. The Anglo-Saxon language received a major boost when Christianity brought an enormous Latin vocabulary starting in what year?

5. When did Elizabeth become Queen of England?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What impact did the printing press and the scientific revolution have on the English language?

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

4. What managed to diminish the number of dialects in Great Britain?

5. What became of the Germanic tribes described in Chapter 2, The Mother Tongue? Where did they spread?

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the English language in comparison with others, such as German, French, or Spanish. What makes English easier or harder to learn? How do grammatical rules differ?

Essay Topic 2

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

Essay Topic 3

How can we know how the English language sounded hundreds of years ago? What resources do we have today to examine and analyze dialects? What changes have made this possible?

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