Tully Mars

Turns out the folks working for the governemnt don't know jack about the government they work for-


US officials flunk test of Amerian history, economics, civics - Yahoo! News

You too can take the test here-

Civic Literacy Report - Civics Quiz

It isn't easy, IMHO. As soon as I figure out how to post with spoiler tags I'll post my score.

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Martian

I won't bother to take the test; as I'm not American, I expect I'd do abysmally on it.

Spoiler tags are [spoiler ] and [/spoiler ], with the spaces removed and the text you want hidden in the middle.

Tsk. As a mod, you ought to know these things.

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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

inBOIL

I got 31 out of 33. This is an unusual test. For example, how is the question about sputnik relevant to U.S. civics?

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And you believe Bush and the liberals and divorced parents and gays and blacks and the Christian right and fossil fuels and Xbox are all to blame, meanwhile you yourselves create an ad where your kid hits you in the head with a baseball and you don't understand the message that the problem is you.

Derwood

I got a 76%

connyosis

26 out of 33 here - 78.79%.

It's not an easy test no, but 44%? Truly craptacular.

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If atheism is a religion, then not collecting stamps is a hobby.

Willravel

$20 says everyone in the Bush administration got #22 wrong.

I also got 31 of 33. I missed #8 and #27. Reducing taxes and increasing spending during economic problems is a bad idea, so I stand by my answer on 27.

How anyone in office can get below maybe a 60% is beyond embarrassing. Is it anti-intellectualism?

Martian

I don't know if I'd even say it's that hard. Curiosity got the better of me, and I scored 31 out of 33. Granted, I did get a few guesses in there, and the two I got wrong (4 and 15) are I think, reasonable for me to miss since I'm not a US citizen and have never formally studied US history in any way, shape, or form.

Even the foreigners do better than your government officials. Seems to me like that's just not right.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

djtestudo

31 of 33.

I missed the one about "Government of the people...", which I knew was in the correct answer but thought it came from elsewhere, as well as the one about the philosophers (but the right answer was what was deciding between...).

Overall, not bad. Of course, I'm a history and government junkie...

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SecretMethod70

32 out of 33, but I also got my degree in political science

I agree that some of the questions seemed out of place.

I'm also disturbed to know that the average score was 49%.

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Le temps détruit tout

"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

Tully Mars

No one said I was a good mod. Only reference I could find said something about b&b tags. Didn't make any sense to me.
-----Added 23/11/2008 at 08 : 57 : 47-----
I thought it was hard. I missed 5 giving me an 84% (4,13,25, 27 and 29.) Usually I do pretty good on tests like these. I follow politics and like history. This one seemed to have several questions where I just had to guess. Guess I guessed wrong.
-----Added 23/11/2008 at 09 : 25 : 43-----
Agreed. I watch Leno some nights and when he does his "Jay Walking" gig I always figured they must go through 20 people who know the answers before finding someone to put on the TV. Not anymore. 44%? Craptacular indeed.

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I used to drink to drown my sorrows, but the damned things have learned how to swim- Frida Kahlo

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filtherton

I got 31 out of 33, which makes this the best test I've had all semester. Fuck. I mistakenly gave the Puritans the benefit of the doubt and misplaced the Gettysburg Address quote, even though I could hear Lincoln (or the standard Lincoln impersonator) saying it in my head.

Willravel

When I need to remember the Gettysburg Address, I think back to the movie Kindergarten Cop. The little kids recite the address, and for some reason it's been the best way to remember it I've ever come across.

shakran

Some of the questions are irrelevant (sputnik) and some have a decided political bent to them - - i.e. you either agree with Greenspan and the Trickledown boys (lower taxes all the time) or you get the question wrong.

Maybe you didn't do as poorly as you think. . .

(edit)

Will: You too?

Bill O'Rights

I have to say...that was a pretty good test. Not easy, but most of the questions, though not all, I found relative. I actually had to think about a few of 'em. Common sense, and process of elimination, prevail.

So...does my score render me inelligible for a government position?


.

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"Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus

It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.

Tully Mars

No, but an unwillingness to put up with BS and morons might.

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I used to drink to drown my sorrows, but the damned things have learned how to swim- Frida Kahlo

Vice President Starkizzer Fan Club

Daniel_

As a non-American, I found it interesting and fairly chalenging.

My score:

You answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %

Average score for this quiz during November: 78.0%
Average score: 78.0%

You can take the quiz as often as you like, however, your score will only count once toward the monthly average.

If you have any comments or questions about the quiz, please email americancivicliteracy@isi.org.

You can consult the following table to see how citizens and elected officials scored on each question.

Where to from here?

Answers to Your Missed Questions:


Spoiler: Question #7 - D. Gettysburg Address
Question #14 - B. stressed the sinfulness of all humanity
Question #26 - C. revenue minus expenses
Question #27 - A. the price system utilizes more local knowledge of means and ends

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╔═════════════════════════════════════════╗
Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air,
And deep beneath the rolling waves,
In labyrinths of Coral Caves,
The Echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand;
And everthing is Green and Submarine
╚═════════════════════════════════════════╝

laconic1

I got 30 right. Missed 7,11,14. Not sure how I missed 14, it seems kinda obvious looking at it now.

Tully Mars

There were several near the end where I thought two answers could have worked. In hindsight I can see that's not really the case. On #4 I knew the debates subject but couldn't remember exactly in what context. #13 I just couldn't remember at all and took a stab, that stab was wrong.

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I used to drink to drown my sorrows, but the damned things have learned how to swim- Frida Kahlo

Vice President Starkizzer Fan Club

Rekna

Why is there a question about 2000 year old philosophers on the test?

Tully Mars

I don't know. I do know I bombed it.

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I used to drink to drown my sorrows, but the damned things have learned how to swim- Frida Kahlo

Vice President Starkizzer Fan Club

Willravel

I'm just guessing, but I suspect it's about the roots of our government. Without the Greeks, our government would likely look a lot different.

Rekna

Well this is true to a small degree the question is not appropriate for a US civics test. It would be more appropriate to ask us questions about the British government than this. Or even about the bible...

Derwood

i posted this quiz on another site I frequent and of the 20 people who took it, none got more than 5 wrong

Willravel

Oh I totally agree, I just suspect that was the reasoning behind the author(s)' including that in the test.

rhaevyn

I missed four questions when I took the test this past weekend, so I scored 87.88%. I scored way better than I thought I would, after hearing the average person failed.

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~Alex~

You've come far, and though you're far from the end, you don't mind where you are, 'cause you know where you've been.

Yakk

WTF questions:
??
??
??
What economic theory do you follow?

Questions I got wrong:
Spoiler: Question #7 - D. Gettysburg Address -- I answered DOI.
Question #10 - C. Religion -- I answered due process.

Not citizen of the USA, no degree or higher education in political science.

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Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

genuinegirly

I didn't think any of the questions were out of place. I'm not a history buff, but several of the general history questions seem like common knowledge.

You answered 27 out of 33 correctly — 81.82 %
I am comfortable with my score. It's not perfect, but I rarely score perfectly on anything these days.

How can you not know what Sputnik is!?!

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Tully Mars

Perfection is overrated. There's a rumor going around that the last guy that was prefect they nailed to a cross. Don't want any part of that job.

I think something like Sputnik was important to the US and the USSR. The rest of the world did a solid "Meh" at the time. I remember talking to a good friend down here, very well educated. I believe he finished his MBA at Miami. Not sure, know it was in Florida. We were talking about the space shuttle launches and how he and his friends used to drive up to watch them. I mentioned remembering sitting at the TV as a kid and watching the Apollo missions. He had no idea what the Apollo missions were.

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I used to drink to drown my sorrows, but the damned things have learned how to swim- Frida Kahlo

Vice President Starkizzer Fan Club

Willravel

Some people on TFP may have been born as recently as 1990 (though that excuse can't really translate to government officials). I only know about Sputnik because I was and continue to be a sci-fi/space nerd.

dksuddeth

84.5% 28 out of 33. don't remember which ones I missed.

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CinnamonGirl

Anyone remember that commercial for the Gameshow Network, where everyone is shouting "Sputnik!" to the screen, and then cuts to the lady playing the game, who says something like "uhhh...Skylab?"


As for the test, I got 31 out of 33, which honestly, was better than I thought I'd do.

Yeesh. Don't government officials have to take any political science classes? (or history, for that matter...)

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"...for though she was ordinary, she possessed health, wit, courage, charm, and cheerfulness. But because she was not beautiful, no one ever seemed to notice these other qualities, which is so often the way of the world."


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dc_dux

32 out of 33.

Of the "self-identified elected officials" who took the test, I wonder how many were elected local water board members..or elected neighborhood advisory council members..or similar type positions as opposed to state legislators or members of Congress.

The headline, "US officials flunk test....," might be a bit misleading.

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"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire

Tully Mars

See and I wonder if one of them wasn't Governor of the state of Alaska.

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I used to drink to drown my sorrows, but the damned things have learned how to swim- Frida Kahlo

Vice President Starkizzer Fan Club

asaris

Woo! 100%! I agree that a few of the questions seemed a bit odd, but it was pretty clear what they were going for.

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"Die Deutschen meinen, daß die Kraft sich in Härte und Grausamkeit offenbaren müsse, sie unterwerfen sich dann gerne und mit Bewunderung:[...]. Daß es Kraft giebt in der Milde und Stille, das glauben sie nicht leicht."

"The Germans believe that power must reveal itself in hardness and cruelty and then submit themselves gladly and with admiration[...]. They do not believe readily that there is power in meekness and calm."

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

Yakk

It felt a little like a push-poll in some cases, really.

A number of questions where "this is argued among professionals in the field, but I know what answer they are looking for".

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Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

Paq

31/33 and i'm with will in sticking by my answer of "Lower taxes and cut spending"

I also think specializing in 1 thing and opening international trade will lead to lower economy long term bc you're too specialized and too dependent upon the supply/demand of that one product

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Live.

Chris

Hyacinthe

As a non American I managed a 32 / 33 correct - yay for bumping up this months average.

I would like to say that I am apalled at the results and blame it all on America but honestly I think if Australians had to sit a similar test we'd do even worse - our immigration tests even have a sports section (I would never be able to immigrate into my own country since I would totally flunk that!)

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"Her emotions were clear waters. You could see the scarring and pockmarks at the bottom of the pool, but it was just a part of her landscape – the consequences of others’ actions in which she claimed no part."

CinnamonGirl

I was watching Craig Ferguson a few weeks ago, and he said something like, "I had to take a test to become an American, what did YOU have to do?"

It was a joke, but it made me think. Immigrants probably DO have a better grasp of civics & history, whereas we citizens may take it for granted. I can totally picture some redneck guy saying, "I don't need to take no test, I's BORN here."

I find that amusing and scary at the same time.

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"...for though she was ordinary, she possessed health, wit, courage, charm, and cheerfulness. But because she was not beautiful, no one ever seemed to notice these other qualities, which is so often the way of the world."


"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Arc101

I got a low score 24 out of 33 correctly — 72.73 % but I am British. I think any American who does not beat my score must go back to school !

hiredgun

32 here.

My immediate thoughts about the headline mirror those expressed by dc_dux. If 'elected officials' is a broad category including heavy representation of locals, then the scores aren't that surprising. There are probably a fair few national-level representatives and even senators who might do poorly, but their average is probably nowhere near 50%.