Citizenship

I discovered today that I don’t deserve to be a US Citizen. I took the US Citizenship Test here http://usgovinfo.about.com/blinstst.htm. This was a sample test with 100 questions. I don’t know how they score them, but assuming if you get part of the answer wrong it’s all wrong, I got 23 wrong. That’s 77% for you math people. I think I read you have to get 80% to pass.

Go take the test and see how you do then come back and tell me. NO CHEATING, now! Answer it as if you were really taking the test.
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Now that you have taken it, let me clue you in on a few things.

Some of these questions are very ambiguous, even for a person who speaks English. For example:
Q. What is the United States Capitol?
I answered Washington DC, thinking they meant the capitol of the US. The real answer is “the Place where Congress meets”

Q. Who is the head of your local government?
Do they mean city, county, state, or federal government? I answered the Governor, thinking they wanted the title, but they actually wanted to know the person’s name. I still don’t know what the correct answer is, because it just says “insert local information.” Which local???

Q. What is the elective branch of our government?
They didn’t want a description but rather the names of the positions that make up the elective branch of our government (president, vice-president, cabinet, etc)

2. I think I need to go back to school on more than a few.
Q. What is the name of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to America?
This one is embarrassing. It’s not the Nina, the Pinto, or the Santa Maria, just in case you wondered.

Q. Who elects the President of the United States?
Strangely enough I actually thought the people elected the president. Turns out it’s the Electoral College. Why do I vote again?

Q. How many changes or amendments are there to the Constitution?
There are 27. Apparently the right to go into a bathroom stall and be able to close the door without having to stand on the toilet has not been approved yet.

Q. Can you name the thirteen original states?
Um, no. Maine and West Virginia were not part of the original 13, just so you know.

Q. Who is the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court?
It’s not Rehnquist, which is what the answer book says. Just so you know, it’s Roberts.

I didn’t know how many representatives we have (435), how many times senators and congressmen can be re-elected (no limit), what year the Constitution was written (the musical for 1776 pretty much stops after the Declaration gets signed, and therefore the majority of my knowledge. The answer is 1785). I also got the question on what the Emancipation Declaration did wrong. Had they said Emancipation Proclamation I probably would have gotten it right. I’m not even going to tell you what I wrote down for that answer it was so dumb.



3. Some of these questions are just politically dumb.

Q. Name one purpose of the United Nations?
The correct answer is NOT “to be blood sucking leeches on the universe and make the United States always be the bad guy.” Huh. Who knew they were actually there to provide economic aid to countries? Did we get any of that aid lately when we had our hurricanes? I wonder.

Q. Who was Martin Luther King, Jr.?
What? What does he have to do with the US Government? I thought this was a weird question to put on here. It’s like asking Who is Paris Hilton? Just a famous person.

Q. Whose rights are guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
I thought the answer was so obvious…US Citizens. Apparently, it is EVERYONE citizen or not. Huh.

Q. What is the most important right granted to US Citizens?
I said freedom, but apparently it’s the right to vote. Um, see who elects the president question. My vote doesn’t count