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Could you pass a US citizenship test?

Thermal said:
How did you guys get so many softballs? Mine were mostly the colors of the Aboriginal flag and some other indigenous people trivia, proper titles for territory government positions, and other Australia-specific general knowledge.
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I think I got pretty lucky with mostly drawing softballs. Apparently they are selected randomly. I only quoted the ones that seemed too easy to me.

There were also a few that required some Australia-specific general knowledge, like being able to name the capital of Australia, and the city in the middle of the continent and the number of states (I wasn't 100% sure about the number of states, but I did answer correctly). I don't think I could name the colors of the Aboriginal flag or other indigenous people trivia. If I did, it would have been a lucky guess probably.
 
GnaGnaMan said:
This was my fav question. Made me laugh.


Hmm, no idea. Let's see what I can rule out:
Let's strike weird french name. They won't have a Quebecois as first prime minister.
Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine
When we're at it, let's strike jew name:
Sir Isaac Brock
I'm sensing a pattern here. Let's strike gunpowder plot name
Sir Guy Carleton

Yup. This guy sounds very british:
Sir John A. Macdonald

Welcome to Canada, me.
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I got that one right too, but it was a lucky guess and I followed similar logic. Just seemed like the most WASPy name of the lot.
 
Puppycow said:
I think I got pretty lucky with mostly drawing softballs. Apparently they are selected randomly. I only quoted the ones that seemed too easy to me.

There were also a few that required some Australia-specific general knowledge, like being able to name the capital of Australia, and the city in the middle of the continent and the number of states (I wasn't 100% sure about the number of states, but I did answer correctly). I don't think I could name the colors of the Aboriginal flag or other indigenous people trivia. If I did, it would have been a lucky guess probably.
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Naming the nation's capital is Australia-specific? I'm sure I could name the capitals of quite a few other countries. It would be almost unthinkable for an Australian not to be able to name the capital of the United States, for example. I reckon I could name the capitals of most European, many Asian, and several African countries just off the top of my head.
 
Thermal said:
Well, your army :) . IIRC, one of the grievances against the Crown listed in the Declaration of Independence was complaining about providing free room and board for British military stationed in the colonies. Americans don't normally associate that with the reasons for rebelling (we look for the taxation without representation angle), but we also don't use the word 'quartering', so it was a memory-jogger for me.
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Of the given answers, it’s the only one that really fit as written. I did almost choose “financial crisis,” but I wouldn’t consider the colonies to have been in a financial crisis whereas I know that being forced to house British soldiers was a big issue at the time.

16/19 for me and I didn’t look back to see the ones I got wrong. Who cares? I’m qualified!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
xjx388 said:
Of the given answers, it’s the only one that really fit as written. I did almost choose “financial crisis,” but I wouldn’t consider the colonies to have been in a financial crisis whereas I know that being forced to house British soldiers was a big issue at the time.

16/19 for me and I didn’t look back to see the ones I got wrong. Who cares? I’m qualified!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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The Finiancial Crisis answer was one of those "almost right" answers that the people who write multiple choice tests love to throw at you.
 
60 % on the US one.

19/20 in the Australian one.

"Each State in Australia has its own local council."

I can't see any way of parsing that to make it correct.

Stupid test.
 
Puppycow said:
According to the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, only 36% of Americans can score a passing grade on this test (passing is defined as at least 60% correct, a fairly low bar).

https://woodrow.org/americanhistory/

I got 18/19 for 94.7%. A few of the questions are a little tricky so read them carefully. Not really tricky I guess, but make sure you understand the question correctly.

More info:

https://woodrow.org/news/one-state-pass-us-citizenship-exam/

Bonus points if you are not an American but you can pass this.
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17 out of...20. For the American test. Not sure how I got that extra question, since everybody else kept posting x/19.

Blew it on the 3 colonies, year the Constitution was drafted, and the Federalist Papers authors. I'm not surprised, really - like dudalb I have a BA in history, but early American history is really not my area.
 
Polaris said:
Not sure how I got that extra question, since everybody else kept posting x/19.
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Hmm, I retook it just to see, and I think that either question 13 or 14 might be the new one.

I kinda feel like I saw them all the first time though. Weird.
 
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The test sucks. When I left INS Inspections and worked in adjudications for a while, I would, occasionally have to fill in on Naturalizations. It's a stupid route memorization test with simple answers to complicated questions. My least favorite one was "what did the Emancipation Proclamation Do?" If you listen closely, you can hear bookcases groan under the weight of tomes written on the impacts and role of the Emancipation Proclamation. Ask someone trying naturalize, and the only acceptable answer is "free many slaves". We go from freeing liberated slaves in states in rebellion while not freeing slaves in border states to "freed many slaves". There's a list of 100 questions on the preparation guide that the computer could randomly select 10 of along with the answers the examiner is looking to hear. So yeah, someone who had a nuanced understanding of the Emancipation Proclamation might get it wrong. If you can't pass the test, don't worry, no one who put any thought into our history could.
 
American with a decade's residence in Canada which explains why I only got one wrong in each. (Brainfart on year constitution was written and missed completely on The Quebec Act because the correct answer sounded too "warm and fuzzy".)

But I clicked the wrong box for the Aussie test and got 25/26 before I quit(not wishing to go through all 211 questions). I only got #26 wrong because I didn't finish reading and clicked "Aboriginal" as the earliest settlers, not seeing there was a choice for "Aboriginals PLUS...."

Otherwise, I might still be going.... I take tests well, though. And having lived in so many countries may have an edge.
 
20 for 20

I find it difficult to believe that 2 of 3 Americans can't get 12 right. Mrs. Shemp isn't a history or civics buff by any means, but she got 17 right.
 

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