ESL 151 - Reading and Composition » Spring 2023 » Reading Quiz How Sounding White Helps Get You Ahead, on Film and in Real Life by Katie Martin

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Question #1
Choose the best summary of this article.
A.   According to Martin, there is significant linguistic prejudice against Black speakers, but it is impossible to give scientific evidence for it.
B.   Martin explains that people often judge others who speak non-standard dialects, especially if they do not sound white, and this has significant negative effects on areas such as education, housing, and criminal justice.
C.   According to Martin, linguistic prejudice is a myth, and people need to stop making excuses for speaking English incorrectly.
D.   Martin argues that people of color need to be taught how to speak standard English so that they will not experience discrimination for their speech.
Question #2
According to this article, what is AAVE?
A.   A mixture of English and words from other languages.
B.   Ungrammatical English spoken by uneducated people.
C.   English spoken with a foreign accent by immigrants.
D.   A dialect of English spoken by some Black Americans.
Question #3
According to this article, what do linguists say about the idea that some dialects of English are better than others?
A.   AAVE is incorrect because it does not have grammatical rules.
B.   Dialects that use double negatives are illogical.
C.   British English is better than American English because it is older.
D.   No dialect is better or worse than another, even though people tend to have prejudiced attitudes about different dialects.
Question #4
What happened in the experiment where students heard a lecture paired with a photograph of the lecturer?
A.   The photo had no effect on their comprehension of the lecture, because the audio was the same.
B.   The students had difficulty understanding one recording because the lecturer had a strong Chinese accent.
C.   The students rated the lecture as less comprehensible when they saw a photo of a Chinese woman.
D.   The students performed better when they saw a photo of a lecturer whose race was the same as theirs.
Question #5
What does Martin say about the causes of linguistic prejudice?
A.   Linguistic prejudice is mostly unconscious, and is reinforced by the educational system.
B.   People have linguistic prejudice because of politicians who make derogatory comments about immigrants.
C.   Linguistic prejudice is very uncommon today because our school system teaches children not to judge each other by skin color.
D.   People who have linguistic prejudice are hateful racists.

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