Heather Joins The Round

Because the world needs more knitting blogs.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Think you'd pass it?

I'm having a blog contest! Whee!

Some of you may know that I, in my early to mid-30s, went back to college to study to teach high school social science. Well, I had a kid instead of a teaching career, but now and again I run across fun materials and approaches I sort of put on the back burner for my future teaching career. Here's one for you--questions from the revised US citizenship test which will be used beginning next October.

If you'd like to play my little contest, cut and paste the test into your blog. You can answer the questions publicly on your blog or privately. After you write down your answers, leave a comment on my blog and I'll send you the link to the answers provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and you can score yourself. You can keep your score private or reveal it on your blog. My goal is purely to encourage you to self-evaluate, so I'm not scoring, just encouraging you to look at the test and think about citizenship. Everyone posting the questions on her or his blog by October 15th will be entered into a random drawing to receive a yummy yarn prize from my stash.

Anyone want to play? Here you go:

Civics (History and Government) Items for the Redesigned Naturalization Test

American Government

A: Principles of American Democracy

1) What is the supreme law of the land?
2) What does the Constitution do?
3) The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are those words?
4) What is an amendment?
5) What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?
6) What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment?
7) How many amendments does the Constitution have?
8) What did the Declaration of Independence do?
9) What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?
10) What is freedom of religion?
11) What is the economic system in the United States?
12) What is the "rule of law"?

B: System of Government

13) Name one branch or part of the government.
14) What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful?
15) Who is in charge of the executive branch?
16) Who makes federal laws?
17) What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
18) How many U.S. Senators are there?
19) We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?
20) Who is one of your state's U.S. Senators?
21) The House of Representatives has how many voting members?
22) We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years?
23) Name your U.S. Representative.
24) Who does a U.S. Senator represent?
25) Why do some states have more Representatives than other states?
26) We elect a President for how many years?
27) In what month do we vote for President?
28) What is the name of the President of the United States now?
29) What is the name of the Vice President of the United States now?
30) If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
31) If both the President and Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
32) Who is the Commander in Chief of the military?
33) Who signs bills to become laws?
34) Who vetoes bills?
35) What does the President's Cabinet do?
36) What are two Cabinet-level positions?
37) What does the judicial branch do?
38) What is the highest court in the United States?
39) How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
40) Who is the Chief Justice of the United States?
41) Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government?
42) Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the states. What is one power of the states?
43) Who is the Governor of your state?
44) What is the capital of your state?
45) What are the two major political parties in the United States?
46) What is the political party of the President now?
47) What is the name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives now?

C: Rights and Responsibilities

48) There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.
49) What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?
50) What are two rights only for United States citizens?
51) What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?
52) What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance?
53) What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen?
54) How old do citizens have to be to vote for President?
55) What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?
56) When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms?
57) When must all men register for the Selective Service?

American History

A: Colonial Period and Independence

58) What is one reason colonists came to America?
59) Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
60) What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?
61) Why did the colonists fight the British?
62) Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
63) When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
64) There were 13 original states. Name three.
65) What happened at the Constitutional Convention?
66) When was the Constitution written?
67) The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.
68) What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
69) Who is the "Father of Our Country"?
70) Who was the first President?

B: 1800s

71) What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
72) Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s.
73) Name the U.S. war between the North and the South.
74) Name one problem that led to the Civil War.
75) What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?
76) What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
77) What did Susan B. Anthony do?

C: Recent American History and Other Important Historical Information

78) Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.
79) Who was President during World War I?
80) Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II?
81) Who did the United States fight in World War II?
82) Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?
83) During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?
84) What movement tried to end racial discrimination?
85) What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?
86) What major event happened on September 11, 2001 in the United States?
87) Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.

Integrated Civics

A. Geography

88) Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.
89) What ocean is on the West Coast of the United States?
90) What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?
91) Name one U.S. territory.
92) Name one state that borders Canada.
93) Name one state that borders Mexico.
94) What is the capital of the United States?
95) Where is the Statue of Liberty?

B. Symbols

96) Why does the flag have 13 stripes?
97) Why does the flag have 50 stars?
98) What is the name of the national anthem?

C. Holidays

99) When do we celebrate Independence Day?
100) Name two national U.S. holidays.

5 Comments:

  • At 11:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hi Heather,
    Since I just moved to Canada, I think I will decline to take your test, which I would have failed miserably anyways! We never studied that stuff in school. Anyhoo, would you please send me your e-mail address??
    Thank-you,
    Anne B.

     
  • At 11:50 AM, Blogger Unknown said…

    Okay I suck I could only answer like 7 it seemed. So I called my husband to stump him. Yeah, uh no stumping, he knew it. I think I need to take a course at the local comm. college. Thanks for the fun. I wanna get my dad see what he knows.

     
  • At 1:13 PM, Blogger Katherine Of It All said…

    I probably couldn't pass this test if I tried. I wonder how many Congresspeople or Senators would pass it. Or the President and VP, for that matter.

     
  • At 5:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Am I alone in thinking how fun this is? I haven't studied most of this stuff in decades! I feel like most people can't answer it not because they never knew it, or don't know the answers, but we all take most of it for granted.

     
  • At 1:45 AM, Blogger Scott Kohlhaas said…

    Question: When do men have to register with selective slavery?
    Answer: Never! (See 13th amendment)

    Would you be willing to spread the word about www.draftresistance.org? It's a site dedicated to shattering the myths surrounding the selective slavery system and building mass civil disobedience to stop the draft before it starts!

    Our banner on a website, printing and posting the anti-draft flyer or just telling friends would help.

    Thanks!

    Scott Kohlhaas

    PS. When it comes to conscription, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

     

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