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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. Who tends to invent new words in the present day?

2. When does modern English begin to emerge?

3. On what does a child's vocabulary rely?

4. What language and culture does the answer to #44 bring to England?

5. What type of languages are Chinese and Japanese

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the impact of the Viking invasion of England?

2. How does the English language compare with the development and growth of other global languages?

3. Explain the impact of the invasion of the Normans in England.

4. Explain what the author means by the creation of language areas.

5. What are the merits of using the English language?

6. What is a third method of explaining where words come from?

7. How was the Cro-Magnon man able to supersede the Neanderthal man in human development?

8. Explain how the language of one people can can change over time.

9. Finally, what is the fourth method of explaining where words come from?

10. What irony does the author point out in Americans emulating British English?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the differences between pictographic languages and phonetic languages and give examples of each.

Essay Topic 2

What is the archaeological evidence that points to the evolution of human speech?

Essay Topic 3

Who was Samuel Johnson? What was his role in the development of the English language? What impact did his work have? Is his work still relevant today?

(see the answer keys)

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