Can you pass the U.S. citizenship test?
Sep 22, 2014, 5:07 PM | Updated: 5:08 pm
In conjunction with September’s 227th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, seven states are the first targeted by a group to increase civics education in public schools across the nation.
The Civics Education Initiative is working with state legislatures and community leaders in the seven states — Arizona, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah — to require high school students to pass the same test given to immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship.
Ultimately, the group hopes all states will have a similar requirement in place by the year 2017 — the 230th anniversary of the Constitution.
Why the push? Consider that 92 percent of immigrants pass the civics portion of the citizenship test, while Americans struggle. To wit:
- USA Today recently referenced a 2011 Annenberg Public Policy Center survey, which revealed just 15 percent of Americans could correctly identify John Roberts as the chief justice of the Supreme Court, 13 percent knew the Constitution was signed in 1787, and only 38 percent were able to name all three branches of government — legislative, judicial and executive.
- Gov. Gary Herbert recently told of a government class taught at one of Utah’s state universities in which the instructor had students take the U.S. citizenship exam, with the vast majority of the students managing to answer only about 30 percent of the questions correctly.
- And the initiative group cites that when high school students in Arizona and Oklahoma took the same citizenship test, fewer than 5 percent passed.
The U.S. Citizenship Test can be found online — both the 100 questions and respective answers. It’s an oral test for those seeking citizenship, with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer asking 10 of the 100 questions. The applicant must answer correctly six of the 10 questions in order to successfully complete the civics portion of the naturalization test.
USCIS also provides “naturalization self-tests — four online quizzes with 25 of the 100 questions asked in a multiple-choice format. The Deseret News has taken 25 sample multiple-choice questions from the four online quizzes and has compiled them below.
And so we ask: “How well can you do on the citizenship test?”
1. What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful?
A. the people
B. checks and balances
C. freedom of speech
D. the president
2. Before he was president, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?
A. Spanish-American War
B. World War II
C. Vietnam War
D. Civil War
3. What is the name of the speaker of the House of Representatives now?
A. Hillary Clinton
B. Barack Obama
C. Joe Biden
D. John Boehner
4. Who is the commander-in-chief of the military?
A. the vice president
B. the secretary of defense
C. the president
D. the attorney general
5. Who did the United States fight in World War II?
A. the Soviet Union, Germany and Italy
B. Japan, Germany and Italy
C. Japan, China and Vietnam
D. Austria-Hungary, Japan and Germany
6. How many amendments does the Constitution have?
A. 21
B. 23
C. 27
D. 10
7. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
A. Alaska
B. Quebec
C. the Louisiana Territory
D. Haiti
8. Who makes federal laws?
A. Congress
B. the president
C. the Supreme Court
D. the states
9. When was the Constitution written?
A. 1776
B. 1790
C. 1787
D. 1789
10. Name one U.S. territory.
A. Cayman Islands
B. Bermuda
C. Guam
D. Haiti
11. How many U.S. Senators are there?
A. 50
B. 435
C. 52
D. 100
12. What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?
A. liberty and justice
B. life and right to own a home
C. life and pursuit of happiness
D. life and death
13. Who is the chief justice of the United States now?
A. Joe Biden
B. Barack Obama
C. John G. Roberts, Jr.
D. Anthony Kennedy
14. When must all men register for the Selective Service?
A. 16
B. men do not have to register
C. between 18 and 26
D. at any age
15. What does the president's Cabinet do?
A. commands the U.S. Armed Forces
B. advises the president
C. makes laws
D. all of these answers
16. We elect a U.S. representative for how many years?
A. two
B. four
C. eight
D. six
17. Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.
A. Slavs
B. Zawi Chemi
C. Cherokee
D. Celts
18. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government?
A. to provide police departments
B. to issue driver’s licenses
C. to make treaties
D. to provide schooling
19. What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?
A. freedom of speech and freedom of worship
B. freedom of worship and freedom to make treaties with other countries
C. freedom of speech and freedom to run for president
D. freedom to petition the government and freedom to disobey traffic laws
20. What do we call the first 10 amendments to the Constitution?
A. the Bill of Rights
B. the Declaration of Independence
C. the Articles of Confederation
D. the inalienable rights
21. What did Susan B. Anthony do?
A. the first woman elected to the House of Representatives
B. founded the Red Cross
C. made the first flag of the United States
D. fought for women's rights
22. Who was president during the Great Depression and World War II?
A. Harry Truman
B. Herbert Hoover
C. Franklin Roosevelt
D. Calvin Coolidge
23. What is freedom of religion?
A. You can practice any religion, or not practice a religion.
B. No one can practice a religion.
C. You must choose a religion.
D. You can't choose the time you practice your religion.
24. There were 13 original states. Name three.
A. Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina
B. Washington, Oregon and California
C. New York, Kentucky and Georgia
D. Virginia, North Carolina and Florida
25. Name one branch or part of the government.
A. legislative
B. United Nations
C. state government
D. parliament
ANSWERS: 1. (B) 2. (B) 3. (D) 4. (C) 5. (B) 6. (C) 7. (C) 8. (A) 9. (C) 10. (C) 11. (D) 12. (C) 13. (C) 14. (C) 15 (B) 16. (A) 17. (C) 18. (C) 19. (A) 20. (A) 21. (D) 22. (C) 23. (A) 24. (A) 25. (A)
