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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 2.3 | Chapter 2.4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Mencken, what did the first generations born in the New World value as a virtue over enterprise and resourcefulness?
(a) Courage.
(b) Ingenuity.
(c) Temperance.
(d) Niceness.

2. According to the report of Beverley, what did a group of soldiers turn into after eating some Jimson Weed?
(a) Corpses.
(b) Fools.
(c) Zombies.
(d) Somnambulists.

3. How many dialects dominate American English, according to Chapter 1.5?
(a) Two.
(b) Four.
(c) None.
(d) Ten.

4. Who is the author of "Dissertations on the English Language"?
(a) Benjamin Franklin.
(b) H.L. Mencken.
(c) Noah Webster.
(d) Thomas Jefferson.

5. According to the tale spread by William Gifford, what language was supposed to be substituted for English during the Revolutionary War?
(a) Hebrew.
(b) Spanish.
(c) Latin.
(d) French.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who proposed a generally accepted nomenclature for currency in 1785?

2. What term did John Witherspoon coin, framing it within the context of vulgarity?

3. From what language does the English word "moose" come?

4. What event does Mencken credit with strengthening the obfuscation of distinction between American and British English?

5. Which defender of Americanisms cited by Mencken in Chapter 1.3 states that "Language is made by the people"?

(see the answer key)

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