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Could you pass a US citizenship test?

On the economic system question, I picked "none of these answers", I'm pretty sure it's a mix between socialism and capitalism? Of course capitalism was correct.

"During the cold war, what was the primary concern of the US?

The Great Depression


climate change


Communism


slavery"

Not nuclear war or anything.
 
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On the economic system question, I picked "none of these answers", I'm pretty sure it's a mix between socialism and capitalism? Of course capitalism was correct.

"During the cold war, what was the primary concern of the US?

The Great Depression


climate change


Communism


slavery"

Not nuclear war or anything.
Multiple choice, choose the best answer from the list. Not the most perfect answer possible.
 
On the economic system question, I picked "none of these answers", I'm pretty sure it's a mix between socialism and capitalism? Of course capitalism was correct.

"During the cold war, what was the primary concern of the US?

The Great Depression


climate change


Communism


slavery"

Not nuclear war or anything.

I wonder how many people actually answer climate change, because they thought we were fighting a war against cold.
 
Multiple choice, choose the best answer from the list. Not the most perfect answer possible.

It is still utterly absurd that they thought the most prominent threat of the Soviet union was their political ideology, not the fact that they had the power and potential motivation to nuke the hell out of the west (and we nuke back, and so on).


37 out of 50 so-far. I don't exactly hate myself for not knowing whether the constitution has 23 or 27 amendments.
 
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It is still utterly absurd that they thought the most prominent threat of the Soviet union was their political ideology, not the fact that they had the power and potential motivation to nuke the hell out of the west (and we nuke back, and so on).
The cold war was fought over the spread of communism, not the spread of nukes.
 
The cold war was fought over the spread of communism, not the spread of nukes.

In a way, yes, but at any point in time during the war, the PRIMARY CONCERN was obviously the fact that either side could nuke the hell out of civilization.
 
In a way, yes, but at any point in time during the war, the PRIMARY CONCERN was obviously the fact that either side could nuke the hell out of civilization.

No. If that had been the overriding concern we could have simply agreed not to nuke each other and gone about our business.
 
In a way, yes, but at any point in time during the war, the PRIMARY CONCERN was obviously the fact that either side could nuke the hell out of civilization.

No, the primary concern was the spread of each others ideology. Nuclear weapons and MAD (mutually assured destruction) were just one of the means in which we engaged in that conflict (and the reason it was a 'cold' war not an active or 'hot' war).

TB, I remember you mentioning that you were about 18 at last TAM. I am 42. I personally witnessed the end of the cold war. I was alive and politically active (even if too young to vote at the time) during the Reagan Era. I speak from first hand experience. The threat was communism and the Soviet Union was the Evil Empire. Nobody believed that either side was actually crazy enough to start a nuclear war.

Maybe before my time (like during the Cuban Missile Crisis) nukes would have been a bigger fear, but I lived in a world in which we avoided that crisis and both sides had been stockpiling nuclear weapons for another 20 years without ever firing one at the other side. by the 80's nukes were not considered a threat, while communism was still very much feared.
 
81 out of 96. Not bad as a Brit with no prep. Utterly crap design of the web site though, what do you expect from CSM though?
 
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No, the primary concern was the spread of each others ideology. Nuclear weapons and MAD (mutually assured destruction) were just one of the means in which we engaged in that conflict (and the reason it was a 'cold' war not an active or 'hot' war).

TB, I remember you mentioning that you were about 18 at last TAM. I am 42. I personally witnessed the end of the cold war. I was alive and politically active (even if too young to vote at the time) during the Reagan Era. I speak from first hand experience. The threat was communism and the Soviet Union was the Evil Empire. Nobody believed that either side was actually crazy enough to start a nuclear war.

Maybe before my time (like during the Cuban Missile Crisis) nukes would have been a bigger fear, but I lived in a world in which we avoided that crisis and both sides had been stockpiling nuclear weapons for another 20 years without ever firing one at the other side. by the 80's nukes were not considered a threat, while communism was still very much feared.

Well, if you say so.


I might be coloured by the fact that I live in a somewhat neutral country. When my parents were young during the cold war, people didn't really talk about the spread of communism but the fact that we might be nuked to hell.
 
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81 out of 96. Not bad as a Brit with no prep.

again, I am curious, which ones did you miss. Gord had a similar score and I am curious which ones (which were obvious to Americans) were not so clear to the rest of the world.
 
The 2 I missed were the date of the Constitution (I thought it was 1789, it was 1787) and the one about the Federalist papers... I thought it was Jefferson. I should have known better just from reading Shanek's posts years ago. He so loved the Federalist papers!
 
Thirded. Both on the constitution. I said 23, instead of 27 amendments and written in 1789 instead of 1787.

Gord, I am curious if you remember which ones you missed. I have heard it said that most Americans can't pass the test, but if these questions are truly representative than I despair even further for my country. most of them were ridiculously easy for somebody who has lived in the US his/her entire life here and didn't bury his/her head in the sand.

I liked that one of the options for a war we fought in the 1900's was the war of 1812.

I was incorrect in all the questions where the option was "Canada" or "Canadians". :(:D

In actuality my errors did not seem to fit any pattern and a couple were in just answering too fast and then thinking, "Oh ho, that's not right." -- the number of senators, for example.

The one that surprised me was that Representatives are only elected for two year terms. After only 55 years of watching Burlington and Buffalo channels, I am amazed that I thought it was four. :o
 
82/96

Most of the answers I got wrong are ones that you don't really expect foreigners to get, like cabinet positions, or the last day that you can submit your income tax. I got a few answers wrong that I shouldn't have, like the number of senators considering that the concept that each state has the same number of senators was nicked directly from the US by Australia except that we get more senators per state.

I do have one question for the Americans, were taxes really very high in the colonies? I thought the issue wasn't so much that there were high taxes but that the colonies weren't adequately represented when it came to creating those taxes.
 
82/96

Most of the answers I got wrong are ones that you don't really expect foreigners to get, like cabinet positions, or the last day that you can submit your income tax. I got a few answers wrong that I shouldn't have, like the number of senators considering that the concept that each state has the same number of senators was nicked directly from the US by Australia except that we get more senators per state.

I do have one question for the Americans, were taxes really very high in the colonies? I thought the issue wasn't so much that there were high taxes but that the colonies weren't adequately represented when it came to creating those taxes.
King George was a TYRANT I tell you, a TYRANT!

He went nuts because he couldn't deal with our freedom! FREEEEEEEEEDOM!!!!!!!
 
Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s?
OK it must be the Civil War because the other answers are all 20th Century wars, but it's a bit of a stretch to say the US fought it, unless you count both sides at once?

93/96 Failed on WWI president, Federalist papers author and one other I can't remember.
 
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Most of the answers I got I do have one question for the Americans, were taxes really very high in the colonies? I thought the issue wasn't so much that there were high taxes but that the colonies weren't adequately represented when it came to creating those taxes.

My thoughts exactly.
 
"You answered 96 of 96 questions correctly for a total score of 100%."

Although some of those questions are best answered by figuring out what they want the answer to be. For example, the question about whom Senators represent, or why colonists came to North America.

Not for the cynical.

(Bolding mine)

That one gave me pause too. I was all, "Well, it's either 'freedom' or 'none of these' and they're probably looking for 'freedom'."
 

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