(no subject)

[winterbadger]

Well, let's hope this link (to a PDF) works better.

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/citizenship/flashcards/Flashcard_questions.pdf

This came up on a community I read. How many folks who are US cits already know all the answers to these? I annotated the copy I sent around the office (where most people are gettting at least a couple wrong), as I feel some of the questions are subjective and rather open-ended, and one or two answers are actually wrong or incomplete.

I assume this follows up on a test booklet that may train applicants in the "right" answers to some of the more subjective questions. (Whihc makes me think of the scene in The Untouchables where Sean Connery's character is asking the police cadets why they want to be policemen. "To uh, protecta, and, er, serve the people, of, er..." :-)

Comments

[rethought.livejournal.com]

I'd seen the list before, but I hadn't really looked closely at it.

I went through the ?s and found the following either unknown to me, or misleading.
-How many changes or Amendments are there to the Constitution?
Easy, but I just couldn't remember.
-Name some countries that were our enemies during WWII?
The answers imply that only the big three were against us. I think that's a bit simplistic, so I'd likely have argued with the questioner...
-Which President was the first CiC of the US Army and Navy?
I'm an idiot. Don't look at me.
-In what year was the Constitution written?
Again, I apparently didn't pay attention when I was in Civics. Ah well.

Seems like if you got the right draw, a 2nd grader could answer the questions.

[winterbadger]

Amendments: Yep, I knew right off that I had a ballpark idea (less than 30) but couldn't possibly say for sure the exact #.

Countries: Yes, that was one of the ones I annotated. Other countries in or associated with the Axis include Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia (before the coup), Croatia (once it declared independence), Slovakia, Finland, and Thailand (!). Spain also sent troops to fight in the German Army, and nationals of several countries were represented in various Axis armies, but those were the only ones formally allied with Germany, Italy, and Japan (as far as I know).

CINC: Kind of a trick question, IMO. The president is CINC of the Army and Navy, and Washington was the first president, making "Washington" the correct answer. He was appointed commander in chief of the army of the United Colonies in 1775 and resigned that position in 1783, but I don't think he had authority over the navy until he became president.

Constitution written: Also a mildly sublte question, as it was *written* in 1787, but of course it wasn't *ratified* until 1788, it came into effect in 1789, and the last of the 13 states ratified it in 1790.

Another question I took issue with was the one on the Emancipation Proclamation. Their answer is that it "freed the slaves", but that is not correct. The 13th Amendment, in 1865, abolished slavery. The EP only freed slaves in territory currently in revolt agaisnt the federal government; several slave states that had not rebelled, or had been subdued, were exempted.

As a Virginian, I also bristled that all the questions about the Pilgrims were not balanced by any questions about the Virginia Colony, which predated Plymouth by 13 years.