United States Civic Literacy Exam

[Perfection]

<----I got that.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Typical that a civics exam for Americans would involve several questions on profit. Some of the questions near the end are rather subjective: people still argue about the worth of Keynesian economics, for instance.

You answered 31 out of 33 correctly &#8212; 93.94 %

I missed two questions on the last page, though I take some small amount of pleasure in noting that I'd considered the correct answers at length.

 

[Arakhor]

It is interesting that half the questions I got wrong were purely subjective ones based on state funding and US economics. Why were Christianity and wealth mentioned in a civics exam - are these something intrinsically involved in US politics?

 

[Bast]

I only got 19/33 but all the ones I got wrong were about the US constitution blah blah. Got all the economic ones right.

 

[bhsup]

It is interesting that half the questions I got wrong were purely subjective ones based on state funding and US economics. Why were Christianity and wealth mentioned in a civics exam - are these something intrinsically involved in US politics?

Probably because of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It is an integral part of our history.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, centered around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions of the U.S. states of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Territory claimed but never administered by the colonial government extended as far west as the Pacific Ocean.


The colony was founded by the owners of the Massachusetts Bay Company, which included investors in the failed Dorchester Company, which had in 1624 established a short-lived settlement on Cape Ann. The second attempt, begun in 1628, was successful, with more than 10,000 people migrating to New England in the 1630s. The population was strongly Puritan, and its governance was dominated by a small group of leaders, who were strongly influenced by Puritan religious leaders. Although its governors were elected, the elections were limited to freemen who had been examined for their religious views and formally admitted. As a consequence, the colonial leadership exhibited intolerance to other religious views, including Anglican, Quaker, and Baptist theologies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Bay_Colony

 

[Arakhor]

Oh, I know about the Pilgrim Fathers - I had an American teacher in primary school.

It's just curious that religion (or lack thereof) is a far more prevalent force in the US than in the UK and we're supposed to be the ones with the state religion!

 

[bhsup]

Oh, that! Well, there's a reason why USA #1 now and not UK. We still love God!

 

[Arakhor]

Well the Queen is still Defender of the Faith, but that has nothing to do with the Church of England. The Pope granted it to Henry VIII for his attacks on Martin Luther and the Tudors never gave the title back.

 

[Cutlass]

Oh, I know about the Pilgrim Fathers - I had an American teacher in primary school.

It's just curious that religion (or lack thereof) is a far more prevalent force in the US than in the UK and we're supposed to be the ones with the state religion!

I'm inclined to think it is because Christianity is so fractured in the US compared to elsewhere. I've heard that there are over 600 denominations of Christianity active in the US. And more form all the time. In a nation with one church, or one dominant and just a couple minority churches, if attending that one church feels wrong to you you stop going to church altogether. And then just slip away from religion. In a nation with many churches, you can always try another, and another, and another, until you fit. Or just go off and start your own, which is where most of those 600 odd churches came from in the first place.

The US also has tons of missionaries active. The Catholic church may be known for it's missionary work among the heathens, but not in the US. Here it slowly looses members. But many Protestant churches use missionaries. Not a month goes by when you don't see someone who asks you to join their church. Even if that only very rarely works, it still adds up the numbers over time.

The culture also seems to have more pressure to find a church. Perhaps in Europe few people care if others don't go to church. Here some busybody is always pushing the subject.

 

[aronnax]

I'm a Sinagporean Chinese 18 year old student and I got 25 out of 33 correctly &#8212; 75.76 %.

I don't even take economics.

In other words, those 2508 Americans that took the test must be some very very special people...

 

[Scratch]

Based upon the results we've been seeing here, I'm very much wondering how this test was administered and participants were sampled. Of course, there is a whole lot of trouble with a self-selecting bias such as we have in this thread, but it seems almost incomprehensible that the results were as low as purported. I wouldn't be surprised by somewhat lower numbers, I'd guess that the people who participate in this forum tend to be fairly intelligent, but I'm surprised that their is such a fall off to the results of 49% and 57% as put out by the examiners.

 

[Lone Wolf]

28 out of 33 correctly &#8212; 84.85 %

 

[Arakhor]

Well, a couple of those answers were decidedly suspect, but that still doesn't account for the alleged results.

 

[Japanrocks12]

32, missed the stupid "how do businesses define profits" one

 

[MagisterCultuum]

ahaha got like the last one wrong so stupidly. I was like "it's the last or second to last question, this is boring and easy, whatever." Didn't even read all the multiple choice responses. And I actually thought "Well, this is wrong because it should really say 'deficit' instead of debt, but several of these questions were worded stupidly or have wrong or controversial answers so they probably just made a mistake"

You answered 32 out of 33 correctly — 96.97 %

Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:
Your Answer: government debt is zero
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person

Same here.

 

[fugazi]

Test is stupid and biased.

That. I hope this test gets saved and shown to future history students some 100 years from now. It should be good for a laugh or two and a fair share of looks of pure disbelieve.

 

[Martacus]

I managed to get 30/33 or 90.91%:

Spoiler :

Incorrect Answers

Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:
Your Answer: government debt is zero
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person

*

Question: What was the main issue in the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858?
Your Answer: Do Southern states have the constitutional right to leave the union?
Correct Answer: Would slavery be allowed to expand to new territories?

*

Question: Free markets typically secure more economic prosperity than government’s centralized planning because:
Your Answer: property rights and contracts are best enforced by the market system
Correct Answer: the price system utilizes more local knowledge of means and ends

Quite honestly, I think most of the economic questions were worded a bit vaguely; I almost tripped up on the question about levees, as well--there seemed to be two equally correct answers to that one in particular. The Lincoln-Douglas debate I have no excuse for, however. Still not bad for a college dropout who only ever took one government class in high school 13 years ago.

 

[holy king]

the free market question is pure gold.