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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I got 95 percent so there must have been 20 questions. I think the one I got wrong was the Federalist Papers. These weren't very probing questions as I really don't know jack about history and have only put it together by being fairly old.

I almost sympathized when Glenn Beck asked Sarah Palin who were favorite founder was. I think she said, "All of them." I might have gone with George Washington because he chopped down a cherry tree and used it to make wooden teeth.
 
Guybrush Threepwood said:
21/24 although I disagree with one question. Scottish banknotes are not valid throughout the UK, there are any number of places in the South of England and Wales who won't take them. :D
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I thought the thing about Scots is that they don't part with money. Perhaps nobody outside Scotland has ever seen a Scottish banknote.
 
Belz... said:
Damn! I only got 24 on the first one. :(
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As penance you must now do the most normal Canadian activity:

Go to the nearest Tim's;
Buy a coffee/tea/hot chocolate;
Purchase a snack; and
Complain to your companions about the weather AND the government.
 
Border Reiver said:
As penance you must now do the most normal Canadian activity:

Go to the nearest Tim's;
Buy a coffee/tea/hot chocolate;
Purchase a snack; and
Complain to your companions about the weather AND the government.
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I think complaining about the weather and the government are the primary activities of at least 80% of the human population. In Canada, I would think people are usually justified in complaining about the weather. I mean, it's winter 10 1/2 months of the year, and the other 1 1/2 months, the mosquitoes are unbearable, right?
 
Puppycow said:
Has no-one posted the British citizenship test yet?

"You have reached 17 of 24 points, (70.83%) You FAILED the Test!"

Harsh. In my defense, I'm not British.

Here's the one I took, but it seems that there are others:

https://lifeintheuktestweb.co.uk/british-citizenship-test-4/
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I failed. 16/24. Many of the ones I missed are ones that I slapped my head about when I learned the actual answer because I really should have known. Roundheads and Cavaliers, for example. I really shouldn't have got that one wrong. I've got a print of the Laughing Cavalier on my wall at home, which I inherited from my grandparents.
 
CORed said:
I think complaining about the weather and the government are the primary activities of at least 80% of the human population. In Canada, I would think people are usually justified in complaining about the weather. I mean, it's winter 10 1/2 months of the year, and the other 1 1/2 months, the mosquitoes are unbearable, right?
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Blackflies!
 
Back in the 90's in Hawaii my then wife went in for her citizenship test; she was not keen on studying and never could be bothered to remember who the vice president was. I was waiting for her in the car when she came out after the test. I asked how she did; she did poorly, but passed anyway. When I asked for an explanation she said, "the examiner was Filipino too". WTF! :)
 
Border Reiver said:
As penance you must now do the most normal Canadian activity:

Go to the nearest Tim's;
Buy a coffee/tea/hot chocolate;
Purchase a snack; and
Complain to your companions about the weather AND the government.
Click to expand...

That's almost the same as the Aussie penance, few small differences though
Go to the nearest pub
Buy a schooner
Purchase a meat pie; and
Complain to ya mates about the weather AND the government...
:D
 
Puppycow said:
Has no-one posted the British citizenship test yet?

"You have reached 17 of 24 points, (70.83%) You FAILED the Test!"

Harsh. In my defense, I'm not British.

Here's the one I took, but it seems that there are others:

https://lifeintheuktestweb.co.uk/british-citizenship-test-4/
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Several of my colleagues have taken the tests, and I was surprised at how pointlessly obscure a lot of the questions were. I did manage to get them all right, but that's more a reflection of my own rather obscure knowledge than the test. I swear one involved which battles the Duke of Marlborough was famous for winning.
 
Dabop said:
That's almost the same as the Aussie penance, few small differences though
Go to the nearest pub
Buy a schooner
Purchase a meat pie; and
Complain to ya mates about the weather AND the government...
:D
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But not about your lethal fauna?
 
dudalb said:
I think I would do pretty well on a British Citizen ship test.
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I guess you would - and a lot better than many native-born Brits, given the questions I've seen, which my colleagues have asked me.
 
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