Wednesday, December 06, 2006

There's Always Time For 'Time'

This week's issue of Time magazine has a small article in the 'Notebook' section that discusses how the U.S. government is looking to revise the citizenship test to "focus less on memory and more on understanding" (you can read it online here). They listed the following 10 sample questions, and a goal of 6 questions correct to "pass". Unfortunately, for the amount of people I know that would get 6 of these questions correct, I know about 10 times as many that would get less than 6 questions correct (many of which would likely get closer to NONE right). I think I know one person that has a shot at getting all 10 of these questions right...consider that a challenge Mr. Cooper!...that is, unless you've already read your copy of Time...don't cheat! For the rest of you, give it a shot (the answers are at the bottom of this post).

Oh...how many did I get right, you ask? Well...9 out of 10, unfortunately...DAMN YOU, USELESS MOUNTAIN TRIVIA!

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  1. What do we call the first 10 amendments to the Constitution?
  2. The House of Representatives has how many voting members?
  3. What Cabinet-level agency advises the President on foreign policy?
  4. Who is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court now?
  5. What does it mean that the U.S. Constitution is a constitution of limited powers?
  6. What is the current minimum wage in the U.S.?
  7. What are "inalienable rights"?
  8. Name one of the writers of the Federalist Papers.
  9. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
  10. What is the tallest mountain in the United States?
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[Answers: (1) the Bill of Rights; (2) 435; (3) the State Department; (4) John Roberts; (5) the Federal Government has only the powers that the Constitution states that it has, or the states have all powers that the Federal Government does not; (6) $5.15; (7) rights that people are born with; (8) James Madison, Alexander Hamilton or John Jay; (9) Louisiana, or the Louisiana Territory; (10) Mount McKinley, or Denal]

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm going to say I got all 10 right, but I actually said the inalienable rights as outlined in the Declaration of Independence "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" simply because Time put the phrase in quotes, I thought it wanted specifics. It is sad people don't know all this stuff. It's seventh grade civics.