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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Mencken reports hearing of a German named "Knoche," who to avoid being called "Nokky," changed his name to what?
(a) Knowles.
(b) Knox.
(c) Nixon.
(d) Nock.

2. Which two letters did the American ethnologist McGee insist were his first name and should not be followed by periods?
(a) WJ.
(b) TJ.
(c) AD.
(d) EL.

3. Which of the following nations does Mencken not list as having more interesting war slang than the Americans during the Great War?
(a) England.
(b) Russia.
(c) Germany.
(d) France.

4. What leads most of the studies of the sounds of the American common speech astray, according to Mencken in Chapter 9.10?
(a) English conventionalism.
(b) Laziness.
(c) A lack of scope.
(d) Individualistic interpretation.

5. Which impulse behind American imitation of English orthography is more influential?
(a) Affectation.
(b) Compromise for cheaper printing.
(c) Anti-colonialism.
(d) Convenience.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following does names, used for a settlement, Mencken not list as bespattering the land?

2. Who does Mencken quote as saying, "There is no part of the world where nomenclature is so rich, poetical, humorous and picturesque as in the United States of America"?

3. In which city are the French names of streets reported by Mencken to be beautiful but so barbarously pronounced as to be unrecognizable by a Frenchman?

4. According to the study of E.J. Hills, how many descriptive adjectives are possessed by the average child of two?

5. Over how many post offices does Mencken state bear the adjective "New"?

(see the answer keys)

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