Please read the following excerpt from G.K. Chesterton’s essay “Phonetic Spelling” and answer the
questions below.
5
10
15
20
25
30
A correspondent asks me to make more lucid
my remarks about phonetic spelling. I have no
detailed objection to items of spelling-reform;
my objection is to a general principle; and it is
this. It seems to me that what is really wrong
with all modern and highly civilised language
is that it does so largely consist of dead words.
Half our speech consists of similes that remind
us of no similarity; of pictorial phrases that call
up no picture; of historical allusions the origin
of which we have forgotten. Take any instance
on which the eye happens to alight. I saw in
the paper some days ago that the well-known
leader of a certain religious party wrote to a
supporter of his the following curious words:
"I have not forgotten the talented way in which
you held up the banner at Birkenhead." Taking
the ordinary vague meaning of the word
"talented," there is no coherency in the picture.
The trumpets blow, the spears shake and
glitter, and in the thick of the purple battle
there stands a gentleman holding up a banner
in a talented way. And when we come to the
original force of the word "talent" the matter is
worse: a talent is a Greek coin used in the New
Testament as a symbol of the mental capital
committed to an individual at birth. If the
religious leader in question had really meant
anything by his phrases, he would have been
puzzled to know how a man could use a Greek
coin to hold up a banner. But really he meant
nothing by his phrases. "Holding up the
banner" was to him a colourless term for doing
the proper thing, and "talented" was a
35 colourless term for doing it successfully.
40
45
50
55
60
Now my own fear touching anything in the
way of phonetic spelling is that it would
simply increase this tendency to use words as
counters and not as coins. The original life in a
word (as in the word "talent") burns low as it
is: sensible spelling might extinguish it
altogether. Suppose any sentence you like:
suppose a man says, "Republics generally
encourage holidays." It looks like the top line
of a copy-book. Now, it is perfectly true that if
you wrote that sentence exactly as it is
pronounced, even by highly educated people,
the sentence would run: "Ripubliks jenrally
inkurrij hollidies." It looks ugly: but I have not
the smallest objection to ugliness. My
objection is that these four words have each a
history and hidden treasures in them: that this
history and hidden treasure (which we tend to
forget too much as it is) phonetic spelling
tends to make us forget altogether. Republic
does not mean merely a mode of political
choice. Republic (as we see when we look at
the structure of the word) means the Public
Thing: the abstraction which is us all.
Questions:
1) In lines 33 and 35, the word “colourless” most closely means____________.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
White, lacking color
Racially non-descript
Overused to the point of being trite
Empty, meaningless
Offering a pure or clean connotation
2) In line 40, “counter” conveys all of the following EXCEPT…
a) Phonetic spelling can deemphasize their etymological complexity.
b) Phonetic spelling dumbs down language.
c) A sense of alliteration in that sentence.
d) A sense of Chesterton’s counter point to which he is responding.
e) The sense that history and language are inexorably intertwined.
3) In line 40, “counters” most closely functions as a noun that means…
a) A surface on which to rest
b) The opposite point
c) An item used to keep track of tallies
d) A source of monetary increments
e) A talent
4) What is true about the usage of “curious” in line 15?
I.
II.
III.
Chesterton uses this word ironically.
Chesterton agrees with the statement in the paper.
Chesterton implies that “talented” should be used in a colloquial manner.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
I
I & II
II & III
I & III
I, II, & III
5) What best summarizes Chesterton’s objection to phonetic spelling? He objects to…
a) its lack of clarity to the reader.
b) its unappealing presentation.
c) its ability to obfuscate the speaker’s intended meaning.
d) its tendency towards inconsistency.
e) its ability to obfuscate the etymology of the words.
6) In the first paragraph, which sentence does NOT contain a subordinate clause?
a) Sentence 2
b) Sentence 3
c) Sentence 4
d) Sentence 5
e) Sentence 6
7) The following sentence is a simple sentence…
a) “But he really meant…” (line 31)
b) “ ‘Holding up the banner’ was to him…” (line 32)
c) “Now my own fear…” (line 36)
d) “The original life…” (line 40)
e) “Suppose any sentence…” (line 43)
8. Chesterson’s objection is not to spelling reform; his objection is to
a. The number of words in all civilized languages that have lost their original meaning
b. The way youth today use language to speak to one another
c. The number of historical references that are found in all languages
d. The new words in civilized languages
e. The number of references in our language to ancient civilizations
9. In the opening sentence of Chesterson’s essay, he is asked to make his remarks more lucid. In this
context, lucid means
a. Rewrite his remarks using more sophisticated terms
b. Write an explanation for his remarks
c. Explain his remarks using language that is clear and easily understood
d. Remove the examples and definitions from his remarks
e. Add similes and metaphors to his remarks
10. In line 12 of Chesterton’s essay, the word alight could be replaced with the word(s)
a. fall
b. turn away from
c. illuminate
d. see for what it really is
e. see in a different light
11. Which of the following phrases could replace the words ‘the proper thing’ in line 34 of Chesterson’s
essay?
(I) it correctly (II) a fantastic job
(III) everything for your country
a. I , II
b. I only
c. II only
d. II, III
e. I, II, and III
12. Which term best describes the tone of Chesterson’s essay?
a. Encouraging
b. Despair
c.
d.
e.
Optimism
Authoritative
Somber
13. Which of the following is the primary meaning of the word capital (line 26) as it is used in the
passage?
a.
An accumulated stock of wealth
b.
Any source of advantage
c.
Highly important
d.
Extremely serious
e.
A city
14. From the passage, we can infer that all of the following would be held true by Chesterton
EXCEPT…
15.
a.
Many words today are antiquated
b.
A change to phonetic spelling is being advocated by authors
c.
One should know Greek roots to understand the true meaning of words
d.
Words today have lost their connection to their original meaning
e.
There are objections to changes in spelling
Lines 40-43 is an example of
a.
Metaphor
b.
Personification
c.
Ethos
d.
Synecdoche
e.
Pathos
16. What does the speaker convey in the phrase “this history and hidden treasure (which we tend to forget too
much as it is) phonetic spelling tends to make us forget altogether” (lines 53-56)?
A. Disgust for the lack of history taught in language class
B. Dismay that students do not know the real meaning of “republic”
C. Enthusiasm for a change in the historical perspective of language
D. Criticism of vague knowledge of the already declining history of language
E. Hopeless regret that words are being slept incorrectly in the future
17. Which of the following would be considered likely audiences of this excerpt.
I.
Linguists
II.
Teachers (of language?)
III. Historians
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
I only
III only
I and III
II and III
I, II, and III
18. The organization of this excerpt would be best described as
A. A general claim followed by specific examples
B. A historical explanation leading to a specific claim
C. A specific example used to come to a conclusion
D. A personal experience followed by a list of claims
E. ??
19. Chesterton uses all of the following to support his argument EXCEPT
A. Humor
B. Evidence (maybe concrete imagery?)
C. Alliteration
D. Appeal to logic (maybe credibility?)
E. Asyndeton
20. The chief effect of the building phrases in lines 8-11 is to
A. Display all of the errors of current language
B. Explore different uses of language
C. Identify what language once contained
D. Bemoan the loss language treasures
E. Celebrate that shift in the use of language
21. When Chesterton recounts the misuse of the word “talent” in line 12-34, he is asserting that
A. Words are abused by the general public
B. The word “talent” is confusing for everyone
C. Language is a changing phenomenon that ought to be revered
D. Even leaders in society are unaware of language’s history
E. Greeks have an influential role in language development
Answer key:
1) D
2) D
3) C
4) A
5) E
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
A
A
A
C
A
11) B
12) D
13) C
14) C
15) A
16) D
17) E
18) A
19) A
20) D
21) D