Civics Test question

A

aussie_okie

Registered Users (C)
On some questions like:
What does the Constitution do?
- sets up the government
- defines the government
- protects basic rights of Americans

Can you just answer one of these?

thanks
 
Each question has several answers - just concentrate on learning one of the answers from each question.

Good luck...
aussie_okie said:
On some questions like:
What does the Constitution do?
- sets up the government
- defines the government
- protects basic rights of Americans

Can you just answer one of these?

thanks
Click to expand...
 
aussie_okie said:
Now worries thanks :)
Click to expand...

May I suggest that rather than worrying about civics test you spend some time before the interview working on your English? Apart from the civics, you also have to pass the English test during the naturalization interview, and your posts here (particularly the "Now worries" thing) indicate that you may have a problem in that department.

As for the civics test, it really is rather a joke, and a typical 9-year old should be able to pass it after 30 minutes of study. Most questions (such as "What does the Constitution do?" or "What does the Congress do"?) are common sense questions that require no study at all. Just about any common sense answer, no matter how phrased, will be counted as correct by the IO, provided that the answer is delivered coherently. The worst thing you can do with such questions is to try to study for them textologically, that is by memorizing the specific wording of the answers. Use common sense instead. There are a few questions that do require memorization (such as the number of amendments to the Constitution, the number of members in the U.S. House of Representatives, a couple of questions dealing with specific dates, etc), but the rest of them are completely trivial.
 
baikal3 said:
May I suggest that rather than worrying about civics test you spend some time before the interview working on your English? Apart from the civics, you also have to pass the English test during the naturalization interview, and your posts here (particularly the "Now worries" thing) indicate that you may have a problem in that department.

As for the civics test, it really is rather a joke, and a typical 9-year old should be able to pass it after 30 minutes of study. Most questions (such as "What does the Constitution do?" or "What does the Congress do"?) are common sense questions that require no study at all. Just about any common sense answer, no matter how phrased, will be counted as correct by the IO, provided that the answer is delivered coherently. The worst thing you can do with such questions is to try to study for them textologically, that is by memorizing the specific wording of the answers. Use common sense instead. There are a few questions that do require memorization (such as the number of amendments to the Constitution, the number of members in the U.S. House of Representatives, a couple of questions dealing with specific dates, etc), but the rest of them are completely trivial.
Click to expand...

I sure hope that was a joke????
I don't have any issues with the English language, thanks ;)
So, you have never accidentally typed the wrong word?
I disagree with you about how to study for the questions.
 
baikal3 said:
... but the rest of them are completely trivial.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Although some of the questions may seem trivial, they test core values that all US citizens should now. You'd be surprised to know that many native-born citizens fail to respond correctly many of the questions in the test.
 
Ha ha. aussie_okie has problems with English? That's funny! English, albeit of a different flavor, is his "mother tongue" (as we Indians like to say). :) People from different regions of the world have adapted English over centuries.

Of course, these are subjective matters to some extent. But, for educated and aware people, I believe, the Civics Test is beyond elementary. I asked my wife to quiz me on the hundred questions *before* preparing for it, and answered only four questions "incorrectly." I have put incorrectly within quotes because it is debatable if my answers were really incorrect. There are alternative ways of answering some of the questions; even the .gov web site with the flash cards acknowledges that. They ask, however, advise sticking to the answers they provide.

But then, I am a member of faculty at an University; I guess that makes a difference.

After having said all this, I hope I don't fail the Civics Test when my time comes. ;-)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
JMG1010 said:
I disagree. Although some of the questions may seem trivial, they test core values that all US citizens should now. You'd be surprised to know that many native-born citizens fail to respond correctly many of the questions in the test.
Click to expand...

The questions do not just seem trivial, they are trivial. Even if you take the most dim-witted high-school dropout and give him 25 minutes to study for the civics test, he will ace it. The intellectual level of the test is about that of a 9- or 8-year old. That's why you never read in this forum any stories about anyone having failed the civics test. If people do experience problems at the interview, it is usually with their immigration history, criminal record, continuous residency, child support, etc but not with the civics test.

Most questions in the civics test require one to three word answers and only a few even require a complete English sentence as an answer.
This is not a test that in any meaningful way tests the applicant's understanding of the U.S. political system. To do that you'd need to ask questions that require reasonably extended responses, at least a few sentences each.
E.g.:
- Explain the difference between direct and representative democracy.
- Explain how the system of checks and balances functions.
- Explain what kind of problems with the Articles of Confederation made it necessary to adopt a new U.S. Constitution.
- Summarize the basic points of one of the Federalist Papers.

Etc, something of the sort.
 
OFF TOPIC!

nnanz said:

Off topic - @javacafe, I am hoping that you are a member of the English faculty at your University.

I have a couple of posts for you to read and comprehend.

http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?321091-my-sevis-status&p=2268767#post2268767

http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?319981-Married-2-months-before-the-Interview&p=2260013#post2260013

Is this a symptom of society being afflicted by Textitis and Twitterspeak, or people no longer care that they are not comprehensible?
Click to expand...

Boy! These abominations, also known as txtese and chatspeak, used to amuse me at one point. Now, they don't; they really horrify me. The generation of students that I encounter everyday, is mutating the language in a way that will preclude their enjoyment of some of the world's most precious gifts --the wondrous works of English literature! It will also limit their ability to communicate meaningfully across cultures, classes, and generations. But, with the availability of TV shows, who reads anymore?

The one encouraging sign that keeps me optimistic is that the best and brightest among my students, rare as they are, still have some regard for the appropriate use of the language.

No, my affection for the language notwithstanding, I am not a member of the English faculty. I am a faculty in the College of Business.
 
OFF TOPIC
javacafe said:
OFF TOPIC!



Boy! These abominations, also known as txtese and chatspeak, used to amuse me at one point. Now, they don't; they really horrify me. The generation of students that I encounter everyday, is mutating the language in a way that will preclude their enjoyment of some of the world's most precious gifts --the wondrous works of English literature! It will also limit their ability to communicate meaningfully across cultures, classes, and generations. But, with the availability of TV shows, who reads anymore?

The one encouraging sign that keeps me optimistic is that the best and brightest among my students, rare as they are, still have some regard for the appropriate use of the language.

No, my affection for the language notwithstanding, I am not a member of the English faculty. I am a faculty in the College of Business.
Click to expand...

I can't resist to comment. I'm in the same camp; however, recently I was forced to look over the fence and consider other points. During a linguistics course, I was exposed to some old English, French and Spanish texts, I really struggled to understand and in some cases I could not understand at all. The message was that languages evolve, and somebody from the 14th century would be appalled at the way I speak. A particularly interesting example is the so called spanglish, which I can't stand; however, some linguists consider it a valid form of expression, perhaps a new language in embryonic stage. I am not sure about that, but it's made me wonder, perhaps we are witnessing the birth of a new form of written English, the question then is, should we fight it or should we learn it? I personally prefer and enjoy to read well articulated posts such as the one from javacafe but how much longer until those are the exception?
 
Off topic -

JMG1010 said:
OFF TOPIC

I can't resist to comment. I'm in the same camp; however, recently I was forced to look over the fence and consider other points. During a linguistics course, I was exposed to some old English, French and Spanish texts, I really struggled to understand and in some cases I could not understand at all. The message was that languages evolve, and somebody from the 14th century would be appalled at the way I speak. A particularly interesting example is the so called spanglish, which I can't stand; however, some linguists consider it a valid form of expression, perhaps a new language in embryonic stage. I am not sure about that, but it's made me wonder, perhaps we are witnessing the birth of a new form of written English, the question then is, should we fight it or should we learn it? I personally prefer and enjoy to read well articulated posts such as the one from javacafe but how much longer until those are the exception?
Click to expand...

I hope that this is not evolution, it is actually backwards.

My opinion is that it is ok for Charlie Sheen (or one of his current blonde goddesses) or rappers and ball players to tweet like that. But business communication should be excluded from such drivel. I once had a colleague cancel a outlook meeting invite with, "Sorry I can't meet today, my calendar is fubar". I had to use the UrbanDictionary to look up the meaning of fubar.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top