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There was a Newsweek article going by the topic's name this week about Americans' civic knowledge... or lack thereof.
The U.S. citizenship test is composed of 100 questions across five categories: American government, systems of government, rights and responsibilities, American history, and integrated civics. Ten questions from the 100 are chosen randomly for the test-taker. To pass, one must get at least six right. In its poll of 1,000 people, the Daily Beast rotated the questions. Beyond the topline—62 percent of Americans passed, 38 percent failed—there are huge discrepancies in the kinds of civic knowledge Americans collectively possess. The following is a look at some of the questions and the percentage of people who got them right and wrong.
Along with the article are twenty actual questions from the United States citizenship test. I'd call it a quiz, but it doesn't keep score... you'll have to do that yourself.
There are twenty questions here, which makes 12 (60%) a passing grade. After each question will appear the correct answer along with a breakdown of how many respondents answered correctly. The aforementioned survey rotated questions, but this link will be the same twenty questions for everyone.
I'm curious to see how Inforoo overall fares in comparison.
I scored a perfect twenty ;D
I'm going to modify this first post to include everyone's scores. kdogg 20 glennron 19 Lowerdeck 19 rdk0r 18 deat 18 Cap'n Jack 18 arlenefavreau1 18 curtebee 17 while "heavily medicated" jhammett 17 boardndeadchick 17 quacker 17 fearthestupid17 noage123 16 lovelucklaughter 16 superfurryanimal 15 Jurymiahbullfrog 15 Mike D 13 NothingButFlowers 12 2/3 (further explanation, please?) guitardevil 12 while "hungover"
Would love to hear from: jigawig troo MrKC (I get the impression from your comment you took it?)
UPDATE:
^ You can take tests ranging from 5-50 questions here, a wider variety of randomized citizenship test questions, with some state-specific questions thrown in for good measure; some of the questions haven't been updated to reflect January inaugurations, however. I took the fifty-question test three times before I got one wrong.
I got 15. Most of the questioned I missed were numbers (missed the number of amendments by one) and I never do well with those. The only one I'm ashamed of is Susan B. Anthony. I totally brain farted there.
Edit: I also didn't know The Speaker of the House's name (I knew his face), which is bad. I don't follow politics anymore, so I guess that makes me a dumbass for several reasons.
Last Edit: Mar 25, 2011 3:53:33 GMT -5 by Deleted - Back to Top
Post by arlenefavreau1 on Mar 25, 2011 10:13:31 GMT -5
Getting dumber by the generation. At least in our standings of industrealized nations. Loosing math and science people by the day educating more forgen born then kicking them out after there education is complete.
Getting dumber by the generation. At least in our standings of industrealized nations. Loosing math and science people by the day educating more forgen born then kicking them out after there education is complete.
Um . . . is this supposed to be ironic?
But yeah, I didn't do so well. Arguably, I got 12 2/3. It depends on exactly what are acceptable answers for the Susan B. and MLK questions. I mean, I know who both of them are, but my answers were not exactly the same as the answers given. Anyway, I'm crap at government and political questions, though, so who was president when, who is speaker of the house now, how many representatives are in the house. I don't know the answers to those things. So, I have to take issue with your thread title because while I may be lazy, uninterested, and uninformed (that's a joke . . . kind of), I kind of like to think I'm not dumb (that's not a joke; I'm not dumb, damn it).
16/20 - I didn't know the current speaker of the house, how many members the house had, who was president during WW1, and I got the one wrong about the Cold War. I was thinking along the lines of nuclear war. When I saw the answer was communism I felt kind of stupid. Oh well, at least I passed.
17/20 - couldn't remember the number of reps, missed the Federalist Papers and my concern during the cold war was a nuclear war breaking out - not communism
Getting dumber by the generation. At least in our standings of industrealized nations. Loosing math and science people by the day educating more forgen born then kicking them out after there education is complete.
Um . . . is this supposed to be ironic?
But yeah, I didn't do so well. Arguably, I got 12 2/3. It depends on exactly what are acceptable answers for the Susan B. and MLK questions. I mean, I know who both of them are, but my answers were not exactly the same as the answers given. Anyway, I'm crap at government and political questions, though, so who was president when, who is speaker of the house now, how many representatives are in the house. I don't know the answers to those things. So, I have to take issue with your thread title because while I may be lazy, uninterested, and uninformed (that's a joke . . . kind of), I kind of like to think I'm not dumb (that's not a joke; I'm not dumb, damn it).
The headline on the page when you click the link says "How Dumb Are We?" The title on the tab reads "How Ignorant Are Americans?" They might not be one in the same.
It could be that we know what to do with the information once we have it - defying the "dumb" label - but rather simply don't have that information most of the time. Hence, ignorant instead.
I may have forgotten Italy. That might have been dumb.
I definitely believe that dumb and ignorant are two different things. I think of dumb as a quality of the person, whereas ignorant connotes a lack of information. It's interesting to me, though, to think of these questions in terms of "dumbness" because, in all seriousness, I don't believe that I am a dumb person (although, I guess, who does?). I can carry on a semi-intellectual conversation. I have yet to get fired from a job that requires at least some level of intelligence. I live with a person who I don't believe would spend his life with a dumb person. (I won't say I made it through law school, as I know some real dumbasses who are lawyers.) But relatively speaking, I did pretty poorly on these questions. I think I'm just apathetic, really. I know that's not a terribly admirable quality, but I don't find that I have much interest in these things. I don't really follow politics because it frustrates me and angers me when I pay much attention. I don't watch the news because it literally scares me. I feel like I should care and want to be a force for good, but I mostly don't. I guess in a way, that is dumb.
I got 17 heavily medicated. I missed the powers of government, The "supreme law of the land." I thought it was the supreme court. I said thomas jefferson for the federalist papers. I feel retarded for missing any of those ?'s though.
Post by arlenefavreau1 on Mar 25, 2011 19:47:55 GMT -5
Leagization with the sole purpose of the national deficit. After that turn all moneys collected toward health care. Don't pay some huge salaried greed monger. Get that computer that just won jepardy to do it and pay for server and power.
Last Edit: Mar 25, 2011 19:50:53 GMT -5 by arlenefavreau1 - Back to Top
I got 18/20. The two I missed were #6 (What was the U.S.'s main concern during the Cold War? - I said nuclear threat from Russia) and #13 (What is one power of the federal gov't? - I said to set interest rates at the Fed and to determine foreign policy... 0 for 2 on that one ).
I was also way overthinking the Susan B. Anthony question - I knew she was an early feminist who fought for equal rights for women, but I was racking my brain for like 2-3 minutes trying to remember the name of the Women's Temperance Movement.
Last Edit: Mar 25, 2011 21:18:31 GMT -5 by arlenefavreau1 - Back to Top
Leagization with the sole purpose of the national deficit. After that turn all moneys collected toward health care. Don't pay some huge salaried greed monger. Get that computer that just won jepardy to do it and pay for server and power.
Am I the only one who's ever engaged in any discussions on what the next constitutional amendment(s) should be?
Abolish the Electoral College?
More along the lines of separation of corporation and state and/or corporate personhood in my case. Although I'm sure there are a number of proposals out there seeking to be the next.
As for the Electoral College... mend it, don't end it. Beyond that, don't get me started.
Post by arlenefavreau1 on Mar 26, 2011 9:04:09 GMT -5
I'm glad a congressman beat the computer because that tells me that we do have some inteligent people in our gouvernment. Although if we had the computer in charge of that we would'nt have to worry aboit it getting greedy.