Practice Quiz for Introduction

No. of Questions= 7

INSTRUCTIONS: To answer a question, click the button in front of your choice. A response will appear in the window below the question to let you know if you are correct. Be sure to read the feedback. It is designed to help you learn the material. You can also learn by reading the feedback for incorrect answers.


1 About how many languages are being spoken in the world today?
a) 500-1000
b) 1000-2000
c) 6000-7000
2 How do you know that people speak different languages rather than just different dialects of the same language?
a) They cannot read each other's writing.
b) They find each other's speech unintelligible.
c) They come from different countries.
3 Which of the following is spoken as a principle or native language by the most people in the world?
a) English
b) Mandarin Chinese
c) Spanish
d) none of the above
4 The island of New Guinea is important linguistically because:
a) It is unusually homogenous linguistically, with only one language and one dialect.
b) Nothing yet is known about its languages.
c) It has an extremely large number of different languages.
5 Which of the following statements have linguists found to be true?
a) Societies that have simple technologies usually use languages with simple grammars.
b) Linguists today generally consider languages that have no written form to be "primitive".
c) The more economically diverse and technologically advanced cultures have larger vocabularies.
d) none of the above
6 Which of the following languages is now static or unchanging?
a) French
b) Spanish
c) Mandarin Chinese
d) none of the above
7 The languages that are most likely to disappear in the near future are:
a) indigenous languages of Australia and the New World
b) languages spoken only by adults
c) unwritten languages spoken in small technologically simple societies
d) all of the above

 


 

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