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Can You Pass A US Citizenship Test?

ZiprHead

ZiprHead

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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?
Click to expand...

Can you pass? No cheating.

ETA: 10/10

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

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.
 
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. :cry: 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.
 
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 said:
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.
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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.
 
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Derec said:
Politesse said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
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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.
 
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Politesse said:

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.
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I seriously doubt most USA voters would notice if 30-40% were disenfranchised. And they would care anyway.
 
ZiprHead said:
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?
Click to expand...

Can you pass? No cheating.

ETA: 10/10

Almost picked the wrong answer on what are the two longest rivers.
Click to expand...
Where are you seeing a 10 question version?

19/20 for me, I've lost track of the various shuffling of cabinet positions.

And I really don't think who was president during WWI matters. I was nowhere near sure but got it right.
 
Derec said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
Yes, but I wouldn't brag about 10 for 10'ing that.
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Yeah, it's like bragging about being able to draw a clock face, or whatever was in that cognitive exam Trump took.
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Disagree. Most of the questions are easy but there's too many historical ones that have no bearing on our lives and most people will forget them in time.
 
Loren Pechtel said:
ZiprHead said:
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?
Click to expand...

Can you pass? No cheating.

ETA: 10/10

Almost picked the wrong answer on what are the two longest rivers.
Click to expand...
Where are you seeing a 10 question version?

19/20 for me, I've lost track of the various shuffling of cabinet positions.

And I really don't think who was president during WWI matters. I was nowhere near sure but got it right.
Click to expand...
Well, seeing that Woodrow Wilson ran on staying out of it, and then we got in it, there is some relevance. Kind of like in 2160 and they ask about who was President during the second Gulf War, and someone says it isn't important and then my equivalent notes, well, George W. Bush ran on a policy of not nation building in 2000, and then he went about fucked Iraq all to hell. Man, I wish things were at least that level of bad now, compared to the shit, we have to deal with today. Heard it was going to be 123 today across most of the US except a postage stamp size of real estate is southern California.
 
Loren Pechtel said:
ZiprHead said:
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?
Click to expand...

Can you pass? No cheating.

ETA: 10/10

Almost picked the wrong answer on what are the two longest rivers.
Click to expand...
Where are you seeing a 10 question version?

19/20 for me, I've lost track of the various shuffling of cabinet positions.

And I really don't think who was president during WWI matters. I was nowhere near sure but got it right.
Click to expand...
IIRC, it said the questions would be generated randomly. My test only had ten.
 
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