Monday, July 27, 2009

Take This Test

Ok, not exactly sports related. I'm just curious.

Below are 10 of 100 questions taken from the test that one must pass in order to become a naturalized US citizen. I use the test as a diagnostic tool when I teach government. The difference here is that the students have to answer 99 questions instead of 10(we don't worry about the question which asks about which form you use to apply for citizenship.)

If you're not a US citizen, go ahead and take the test(this means you, Tez and others). I'm always curious about how much those who were educated outside the US know about our government and history.
  1. What is the Constitution?
  2. What do the stripes on the flag mean?
  3. Who elects the President?
  4. Name the two senators from your state(and please identify the state). For those outside the US, name two current US senators.
  5. What makes up the Executive branch of government?
  6. Who becomes President if both the President and Vice-President die in office(5 bonus points if you can name the person who currently holds that position)?
  7. Name one Constitutional requirement for becoming President.
  8. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
  9. Why are there 100 senators in the US Senate?
  10. Name three rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

There is no time limit, and you all are on the honor system not to google the answers.

17 comments:

  1. OK, this is harder than I thought it would be. I'm not googling anything, so my answers are straight off the cuff, Whatever that means!

    1- The Constitution is the binding document of control over the government. Designed to protect the citicens from tyranical rule of officials elected to serve.
    2- I know the stars represent the states. So I'll say the stripes represent the 13 colonies who joined the revelution.
    3- The electorial college.
    4- Wydon and Defasio... Oregon
    5- Executive and the Congressional
    6- Speaker of the House. Pelosi (yech!)
    7- Born in the U.S. hmmmmm..... Where's O's birth certificate?
    8- I think it gave SpeedBeegle, Yeemum, and Kristen, among others, the right to vote.
    9- 2 for each state. That's all I know.
    10- The right to the pursuit of happiness, freedom of speech, and the right to have a Smith and Wesson, Winchester, or any other fire arms one feels nescessary.

    Thank you SB for putting this up. I'm probably wrong on a lot of this, but it's a good test, and so many of us have been dumbed down by the media, and public schooling, that some of our friends outside of the U.S. probably know more than us!

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  2. 1. The Constitution is the foundation of our government.
    2.The stripes stand for the original 13 colonies.
    3. The electorial college
    4. Martinez and Nelson
    5. The President
    6. The Speaker of the House-Nancy Pelosi
    7. Must be born in the U.S.A.
    8. Freed the slaves.
    9. Two senators from each state.
    10. Freedom of speech, right to peaceful assembly, and freedom of religion.

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  3. I think that they are going to deport me.

    .....did here that someone says that they have seen BO's birth certificate .....

    It is going the be OK cause Obama is going to take care of everythinnnnggg.

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  4. #5 should be Executive and Legistrative.

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  5. I'll try my best without cheating or anything. I'm more of a math guy than I am history/government... lol.

    1. rules for the nation decided on by the founding fathers
    2. they represent the 13 original colonies
    3. technically the electoral college, but all of us vote on it
    4. have no clue???
    5. the president
    6. speaker of the house... nancy pelosi
    7. U.S. citizen for 20 years
    8. free the slaves
    9. two from each state
    10. freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of choice???

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  6. Holy crap SB - I would totally fail this... of course government / history was never my strong suite in school...boys were! LOL

    I'll play...just dont grade it!

    1. Laws and rights that govern our land
    2. 13 colonies I believe
    3. Electoral College - whoever they are...
    4. Feinstein and Boxer -- CA
    5. President
    6. Speaker of House - Pelosi
    7. Born in US - which is why the "Governator" cant run...
    8. Free at last, free at last...
    9. 2 for each state
    10. Freedom of Speech, religion and right to bear arms (now why would I only want the bear's arms, I want the whole fuzzy bear!)

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  7. 1 - 10: no idea....history has never been, and will never be, my strong suit. However, if this was about Canadian Citizenship, I would have failed anyway as I keep getting the Provincial Capitals all muddled up, lol

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  8. LOL, when I did this late last night, I thought #5 was "What are the two branches of power". Now that I've reread it, guess I failed! LOL

    ...and #8... thought that was the whole woman's rights to vote. Guess I'm not up on the racial sensetivity thing!

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  9. So far, I'm pretty impressed. You've gotten through some of the questions that I thought would trip you up, but you've also fallen into some of those traps.

    CR- knowing more about our Constitution and how our government works is the ONLY thing that I agree with Sen. Robert Byrd(D- WV) about.

    I'll post the answers later tonight.

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  10. Okay SB, since you asked ....

    1. the ability to exercise for a really really long time.
    2. lappers must move over because the leaders are coming through.
    3. rich people with lots of money of course
    4. I'm in Illinois and I'm actually a Blackhawks fan, so I don't really know any Senators.
    5. Hollywood
    6. klvalus
    7. money (please refer to answer for question 3)
    8. spawned the tv show "Roots"
    9. it seemed like a nice round number, two by two as they boarded Noah's ark.
    10. uhm ... the right to buy a gun, the right to shoot the gun, and the right to an attorney

    There ya go. History sure is fun.

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  11. Kristen-

    You want the whole fuzzy bear?????

    I KNEW IT!!!!

    Deep down inside, you're a Tony Stewart fan :o)!!!!!

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  12. All ten question relate to the fact that our current government body wishes to eliminate these articles for the utopian humanist empire ruled by socialism ideaologies..

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  13. 6.God forbid if Pelosi ever take over.


    7 You have to be a natural born citizen of the USA. However, that might not be the case in the last election.

    5.The senate and the house

    1. The constitution was written up by visionaries that wanted a nation under Gods grace that allowed all persons freedom of religion, speech, right to bear arms,no taxation with out representation,and grant states the right to set laws for their region.

    10 Life ,Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

    3. We the people are led to believe that the president is elected by the majority vote of the citizens. However, it is the electorial college that designates the new president based on citizen votes but that is not always the case as in the last election and Harry Trumans election.

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  14. BLECH! Thats all I have to say to that Speedy!
    LOL

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  15. Ok- here are the answers-

    1. The Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land.
    2. The stripes on the flag represent the 13 original colonies.
    3. The Electoral College
    4. In Texas- Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn
    5. The Executive Branch of the government consists of the President, the Vice-President, and the Cabinet.
    6. The Speaker of the House, curently Nancy Pelosi
    7. Must be a natural born US citizen at least 35 years of age
    8. THe Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in those states that were in rebellion against the Union. (Slaves in states that remained loyal to the Union were not freed until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment)
    9. Two senators from each state, currently there are 50 states
    10. Freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to peaceful assembly, the right to petition the government for redress of grievances, the right to bear arms, no quartering of troops, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, freedom from self incrimination, the right to a speedy trial by jury, prohibition of excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment

    Overall, everyone did very well. Questions 3,5, and 8 are the ones that are most often missed.

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  16. SB, this is great! I have had the opportunity to help students from Bosnia, Russia, Germany, Japan, and Korea study for their citizenship test. You are a wonderful person!

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  17. volfan-

    When I was working on my Master's, most of the other TA's in the building were foreign students(imagine that- foreign students in the foreign language department LOL). A lot of them were working on citizenship, and since I was certified to teach government, I helped them study for their citizenship test. I can proudly say that every one of them passed the test without missing an answer.

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