Can You Pass A US Citizenship Test?

[ZiprHead]

Take our civics quiz.

Before partaking in the ceremonies, all aspiring U.S. citizens must pass a two-part test. The first part requires test takers to demonstrate an understanding of English. The second part is an oral exam of 10 civics questions chosen from a list of 100.

The Washington Post set up 10 multiple choice questions based on the list of 100 questions USCIS provides as study material to help readers gauge how they would perform. Test takers must answer six questions correctly to pass. Can you?

Can you pass? No cheating.

ETA: 10/10

Almost picked the wrong answer on what are the two longest rivers.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Yes, but I wouldn't brag about 10 for 10'ing that.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Ten measly questions and you only have to get six right. Geez. You should get a t-shirt that says, "I got a D in becoming an American".

I clicked on it. It wanted $4 to become an American. Fuck that.

 

[Swammerdami]

I can take the test with Javascript disabled, but it seems to need Javascript to report results.

With Javascript on I learn that a subscriber has given me free access. Thank you! But what is "free" seems to be the ability to create or use my own free account. That was tedious. After that I was asked for money, with no apparent way to bypass the ask.

How did others take the test?

I did notice a fallacy when I took the test without Javascript. The Mississippi-Missouri is the longest river in the U.S. If its subsets are excluded, I'm not sure what is 2nd longest. Maybe the Rio Grande.

Rivers are natural features. Shortly before it gets to St. Louis, Missouri, the Missouri River merges with a tributary and changes its name to Mississippi River. Changing the name of a River does not magically change it into two different rivers.

 

[Swammerdami]

I tried again successfully. In the process of signing in with my free account, I'll guess that it forgot I'd been gifted the article. Clicking back I got in but got ... only 8 out of 10. The two I missed were Almost's that I SHOULD have gotten. But at least I'm still a citizen; that will come in handy next time I renew my passport.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Did Trump take it? He's awful good at mental assessments, ya know. Man, woman, TV...

 

[Tigers!]

A starter question might be "Why do you wish to pass a US citizenship test?"

 

[Politesse]

You can just find the whole list of questions here, though they publish a new one from time to time. Some are easy, others would escape the memory of most citizens. I note that unlike the WaPo version, the real test is an oral examination sans hints, not multiple choice. That said, I think most people who had their education here will readily pass the civics section, which is of course the point of it.

 

[Politesse]

If its subsets are excluded, I'm not sure what is 2nd longest. Maybe the Rio Grande.

Yukon, actually.

 

[Derec]

Yes, but I wouldn't brag about 10 for 10'ing that.

Yeah, it's like bragging about being able to draw a clock face, or whatever was in that cognitive exam Trump took.

 

[Derec]

You can just find the whole list of questions here, though they publish a new one from time to time. Some are easy, others would escape the memory of most citizens. I note that unlike the WaPo version, the real test is an oral examination sans hints, not multiple choice. That said, I think most people who had their education here will readily pass the civics section, which is of course the point of it.

Maybe we should require it for voting, as a sort of minimum standard that anybody entrusted with participating in selection of elected officials should be able to clear. I am with Larry David on that one.

If everybody is given the same exam, there is also no question of racial discrimination as was the case of literacy tests of old.

 

[Politesse]

You can just find the whole list of questions here, though they publish a new one from time to time. Some are easy, others would escape the memory of most citizens. I note that unlike the WaPo version, the real test is an oral examination sans hints, not multiple choice. That said, I think most people who had their education here will readily pass the civics section, which is of course the point of it.

Maybe we should require it for voting.
If everybody is given the same exam, there is also no question of racial discrimination as was the case in poll questions of old.

I'd be tempted to include one that just centers on accurately describing the roles we're voting to fill. I feel like some of our elections would go differently if people had an accurate understanding of what the president/governor/controller/county sheriff/etc is and isn't authorized to do.

I'm not convinced the racial discrimination angle could be so smoothly clipped away, though. Certainly, that's a problem with the citizenship test as it is currently administered, the subjectiveness inherent to an oral examination and looseness of defining a "correct" answer are an enormous point of weakness where fairness is concerned.

Also, if some large portion of the electorate (30%? 40%?) were suddenly disqualified from voting, I.. don't think it would play well with the public, to say the least. Never mind race, think about class and wealth. The resulting electorate would be highly skewed toward people who were able to finish their college education, and we know that there isn't equal access to same. Arguably a change the Founding Fathers would approve of, but there's a reason we don't always hew to their opinions on things.