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Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
Only 36% can of Americans can pass this test. I got 89% (Missed one)
How about you?
https://woodrow.org/americanhistory/
How about you?
https://woodrow.org/americanhistory/
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Citizenship test
- Thread starter maynard
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I breezed through it but I suppose that being a History teacher could be considered an advantage. I am going to look into this program for my school though, I always like to see new strategies.
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I was cheated I tell ya! I scored 90 - missed 2. One miss I'll accept (who wasn't an author of the Federalist Papers), but on the question of how many amendments the US Constitution has, I said 26. The "correct" answer was 27 but that's WRONG because the 18th was repealed, leaving the Constitution with 26 amendments currently. Numbered 1 thru 17 and 19 thru 27. Sheesh!
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Maynard - thanks for posting that. The only question I'd argue with is the "Why did the colonists fight the British?" I don't remember learning colonists fought the British "because British soldiers stayed in their houses" as the test suggests. A few soldiers stayed in private homes, *without the owners' permission". But the Quartering Act of 1765 only specified that colonies' governments should provide appropriate housing (barracks, inns, even tents) for the Crown's troops, and that had gone on for over ten years before the Declaration of Independence. Interesting to read how that's worded in the Declaration.
OK - back to my cave, waving my Flag of British America!
OK - back to my cave, waving my Flag of British America!
"The only question I'd argue with is the "Why did the colonists fight the British?" I don't remember learning colonists fought the British "because British soldiers stayed in their houses" as the test suggests."
That's the one I missed. I thought it was financial due to the stamp act.
That's the one I missed. I thought it was financial due to the stamp act.
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Here's an "official" prep guide for the citizenship test. Includes those pesky subjects like "how many amendments" and "why did the colonists fight the British".
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default...ip Resource Center Site/Publications/100q.pdf
harumph
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default...ip Resource Center Site/Publications/100q.pdf
harumph
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In my early years as an attorney, I was a naturalization examiner ... the guy that interviewed candidates for citizenship and made recommendations to the courts whether the applicants were qualified. Each was required to be able to speak, read and write simple English and have a basic knowledge of our government. One of the popular questions was "How many justices are there on the Supreme Court?" When I asked this British lady that question, she didn't know and I gave her a bit of a hint that living for many years in Red Sox nation might have helped her: "It's the same number as the players on a baseball team." She still didn't know, but still had enough correct answers otherwise to pass the test and on the day she was sworn in as a new citizen, she was asked by the local newspaper what kind of questions were on the citizenship test. "He asked me how many players were on a baseball team." came the reply that was featured on the front page of the paper. Boy did I have fun explaining that one to my boss.
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What time does the boat leave? I failed. I guess I should have paid attention in high school. But there always seemed to be a pretty girl in my class!
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I didn’t say I was asleep I said I was preoccupied.
TR3driver
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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My thoughts exactly!
Most likely, it was originally phrased correctly (eg "How many amendments have been made to the US Constitution") but some editor felt that was too wordy and "tightened it up a bit".
Whys and wherefores are also extremely slippery; who is to say that every single rebel felt exactly the same about doing so? I think human psychology pretty well proves that was NOT the case! Some didn't like the stamp act; some didn't like soldiers in their homes (maybe); some went along just because people they respected told them it was the right thing to do. I'll bet some even went along just to avoid being branded "Tories" (aka traitors) and being persecuted.
"What is history except a fable agreed upon?"
BTW, I asked my wife (who passed the actual test and is naturalized). She also asked a couple of friends who have also passed it. None of them remember a question about the number of amendments. Could the above referenced test be fake news?
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I think the clue is, people taking the official Citizenship Test are given the official questions - and answers - in advance. They're not stabbing in the dark when they take the test - they're trying to remember what the prep handbook told them to remember.
Ah - standardized testing.
Ah - standardized testing.
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The number of amendments tripped me up as well. If it hadn't had 26 as an option I would have picked 27. Some of the answers you had arrive at through process of elimination, like the British soldiers being quartered one. The test could certainly have been better, but it did illustrate what the authors intended for it to.
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I still maintain 26 is the correct answer, but as was pointed out, the folks taking this test are given the "correct" answers in advance to study. But dang it - there are currently 26 actual amendments to the Constitution! I almost missed the one about British soldiers and really just dumb luck that I got it. I knew there was displeasure about the Stamp Act and "no taxation without representation" but the closest option to that was "financial crisis" which almost hooked me. In the end I surmised it was a trick question so went with the soldiers being quartered answer. It was a coin toss.
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Ok I went with 26 also. I also got the British soldiers question wrong. I guess I’m not bad enough to be kicked out.
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You're closer than you think! If you look at the printed Constitution with amendments, you see the last one is #27. So I guess the folks who wrote the test just counted the amendments, whether they were all valid or not.
Regarding "financial crisis" - probably more rebels *were* worried about financial problems than about soldier housing. Certainly us ol' Yankee business people were. So with a bit of a stretch, of the five choices given, the correct answer should probably be "financial crisis"!
The "Stamp Act" had been repealed ten years before the Declaration. "Taxation without representation" and "excessive taxes" are listed in the prep guide; if they'd been in the test choices, either of those would/should have been good.
Details, details.
mikephillips
Yoda
Online
They're way more restricted on how to answer as multiple choice than as essay for some. But no one on the government side wants to have long questions and long answers to go through to have someone try to explain the big picture. They want simple right or wrong easy to grade type tests.
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