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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 2, The Mother Tongue.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The Story of English was created alongside a nine-part television series for what network?
(a) NBC.
(b) ABC.
(c) PBS.
(d) CBS.

2. Julius Caesar and his armies conquered Britain when?
(a) 44 B.C.
(b) 100 B.C.
(c) 55 B.C.
(d) 34 B.C.

3. Linguists know that languages spoken by around how much of humanity came from a common Indo-European source?
(a) One third.
(b) One fourth.
(c) One half.
(d) One fifth.

4. Robert McCrum describes the modulation of British RP to what in the Introduction?
(a) Cockney English.
(b) Estuary English.
(c) North Country English.
(d) American English.

5. What is considered the highest level of standardization of English, according to the authors in Chapter 1, An English-Speaking World?
(a) Queen's English.
(b) Estuary English.
(c) Cockney English.
(d) Jamaican English.

Short Answer Questions

1. When was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand?

2. Robert McCrum writes in the Introduction, "Language, we know, is in ceaseless ____."

3. Approximately how many people speak English as their first language today?

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

5. What committee was formed to make decisions regarding standard English pronunciation for broadcasting in England?

(see the answer key)

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