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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. Why does Shaw's attempt to help Sweet fail?
(a) Sweet looks down on the theater as unacademic.
(b) Sweet dies before he can see the play.
(c) Sweet has no interest in promoting his ideas to the public.
(d) Sweet only writes libelous articles against his fellow academics.

2. What is Freddy looking for at the beginning of Act 1?
(a) Flowers for his mother.
(b) Someone to love.
(c) A taxicab.
(d) Tickets to the theater.

3. Why doesn't Sweet's shorthand become popular?
(a) He does not have the business organization he needs to popularize it.
(b) It is not legible.
(c) It is very difficult to learn.
(d) It is not a complete and exact phonetic script.

4. What does Higgins tempt Liza with just as she is about to leave?
(a) A purse full of coins.
(b) New clothes.
(c) A chocolate.
(d) A diamond ring.

5. What does Higgins say he can do for the Flower Girl (Liza)?
(a) He can make her a Duchess.
(b) He can make her rich.
(c) He can teach her to speak properly.
(d) He can give her a proper education.

Short Answer Questions

1. Based on what you read in the Preface, with which of the following statements do you think Shaw would agree?

2. Which of the following first interests Higgins about Liza?

3. What does Higgins notice about Liza's father, Doolittle?

4. What does Higgins ask Mrs. Pearce to do with Liza's clothing?

5. Which elements of the English alphabet have no agreed speech value?

Short Essay Questions

1. What would, in Shaw's opinion, be a prodigious advancement in the English language? Do you agree or disagree? Explain.

2. Why does the English language need to be reformed, according to Shaw?

3. What makes some English people despise others? What can we infer would solve this problem?

4. Who are Alexander Melville Bell, Alexander J. Ellis, Tito Pagliardini, and Henry Sweet, and why are they heroes to Shaw?

5. Describe Higgins.

6. What does Higgins boast that he can do for the Flower Girl?

7. Why, according to Shaw, is it important that people be trained scientifically to lose their accents, rather than simply learning by imitation?

8. How are Clara and her mother different?

9. Who are some of the most important people in England, according to Shaw? Why do you think this is so, again, according to Shaw?

10. What does Higgins think of the Flower Girl's accent? What humorous hyperbole does he use in speaking to her?

(see the answer keys)

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