http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/
(click the \"Take the Quiz\" button)
I got 28/33 - a \"B\"
... and then read the bad news -
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/20 ... ding1.html
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=29582
Take the (US civics) quiz ...
Moderators: Tunnelcat, Jeff250
Re:
Please don't hate me.Gooberman wrote:I always hate the ass hole on these internet quizes that claims to have gotten a perfect score.
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31 of 33. If I didn't have a humanities degree, I would have done substantially worse.
In their findings, these ISI folks indicate that people with an undergraduate degree don't do substantially better. Based on my experience, part of the reason for that is due to the extraordinary specialization that takes place in some universities from Day One. As I recall, engineering majors at my school only had a total of about 12 hours (4 courses) of free electives that they might use to take humanities courses. They were so many math, science and engineering requirements, that there simply wasn't time to fit anything else into a four year program, and even then, the school was constantly in jeopardy of losing its accredited status because so many of the engineering majors were taking five years instead of four to complete their degree. I think this is much less likely to be an issue at universities that have a general college program for the first couple of years before any specialization takes place, but it isn't likely to change the reality at engineering or other schools with a sharp focus.
In their findings, these ISI folks indicate that people with an undergraduate degree don't do substantially better. Based on my experience, part of the reason for that is due to the extraordinary specialization that takes place in some universities from Day One. As I recall, engineering majors at my school only had a total of about 12 hours (4 courses) of free electives that they might use to take humanities courses. They were so many math, science and engineering requirements, that there simply wasn't time to fit anything else into a four year program, and even then, the school was constantly in jeopardy of losing its accredited status because so many of the engineering majors were taking five years instead of four to complete their degree. I think this is much less likely to be an issue at universities that have a general college program for the first couple of years before any specialization takes place, but it isn't likely to change the reality at engineering or other schools with a sharp focus.
30/33. Better than I thought I'd do, since I generally consider myself ignorant of civics and US history.
I got #7 wrong, which is funny because I had to memorize the Gettysberg Address in middle school. Apparently, I've forgotten it.
I got #8 wrong, but it was just a blind guess anyway. I don't really know the process for overriding the supreme court. Appointing judges seemed plausible but roundabout and hardly a threat . . . I picked some other answer that looked plausible.
And I got #12 wrong. I know Roe v. Wade is what abortion folks talk about a lot, but I thought it was a later case that actually struck down most of the restrictions and that Roe was actually a pretty narrow ruling. Doe v. Bolton or something like that? Anyway, I thought that was a trick answer and picked what seemed the most plausible out of the remaining four.
I think a lot of those aren't civics questions, though, but history questions. I mean, stuff like \"What was Sputnik?\" and \"What did the Puritans teach?\" Seriously? I happen to know, but how it that relevant?
It's interesting that my score was so high. About half the questions, I don't think I'd have been able to pluck the correct answer out of the air. But some really basic knowledge about, say, the philosophies of the founding fathers, elimitated two or even three of the answers right off.
Several of you said you were 'tricked' by question 29. Out of curiosity, what did you find tricky about the definition of a public good?
I got #7 wrong, which is funny because I had to memorize the Gettysberg Address in middle school. Apparently, I've forgotten it.
I got #8 wrong, but it was just a blind guess anyway. I don't really know the process for overriding the supreme court. Appointing judges seemed plausible but roundabout and hardly a threat . . . I picked some other answer that looked plausible.
And I got #12 wrong. I know Roe v. Wade is what abortion folks talk about a lot, but I thought it was a later case that actually struck down most of the restrictions and that Roe was actually a pretty narrow ruling. Doe v. Bolton or something like that? Anyway, I thought that was a trick answer and picked what seemed the most plausible out of the remaining four.
I think a lot of those aren't civics questions, though, but history questions. I mean, stuff like \"What was Sputnik?\" and \"What did the Puritans teach?\" Seriously? I happen to know, but how it that relevant?
It's interesting that my score was so high. About half the questions, I don't think I'd have been able to pluck the correct answer out of the air. But some really basic knowledge about, say, the philosophies of the founding fathers, elimitated two or even three of the answers right off.
Several of you said you were 'tricked' by question 29. Out of curiosity, what did you find tricky about the definition of a public good?
I was also impressed by the DBB performance.
With regard to the relevance of the \"history\" questions, my guess would be that the ISI folks would look at the questioning of the relevance as an example of the failure of our educational system to make the populace aware that there IS a link between the history we study as a culture and the social and political issues that define our values and are (or perhaps should be) the subject of current political debate. I agree with those of you think that the specific beliefs of the Puritans are not particularly germane. But the Puritans are a fine example of a religious sect whose beliefs were at odds with the state sponsored religion in the country where the sect's members originally resided, and as such they provide a rationale for our country to avoid the imposition of any state sponsored religion. The ISI folks would assume that the general notion of the Puritans' beliefs is one of a number of facts that you would be acquainted with if you had a thorough notion of the link between the early settlers of America and the explicit religious freedom we have today as granted by the Constitution and its amendments. The ISI folks could have just as easily picked some other fact with regard to the Puritans or even one of the other religious sects that established colonies here in order to escape religious persecution.
You could make a similar case for Sputnik. It was one of a large number of events in the struggle between the Soviet Union and the West for dominance in a variety of arenas. But it was a watershed event because, from the moment it was launched, the exploration and exploitation of space became a legitimate and necessary topic of political debate and discussion in the U.S. NASA was established in direct response to the event. and the question of how much of our national resources should be devoted to space activities has been on the table ever since. (Have a look at this page: http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/sputorig.html )
The problem may be that the relevance in cases like these is so obvious that we just take it for granted.
With regard to the relevance of the \"history\" questions, my guess would be that the ISI folks would look at the questioning of the relevance as an example of the failure of our educational system to make the populace aware that there IS a link between the history we study as a culture and the social and political issues that define our values and are (or perhaps should be) the subject of current political debate. I agree with those of you think that the specific beliefs of the Puritans are not particularly germane. But the Puritans are a fine example of a religious sect whose beliefs were at odds with the state sponsored religion in the country where the sect's members originally resided, and as such they provide a rationale for our country to avoid the imposition of any state sponsored religion. The ISI folks would assume that the general notion of the Puritans' beliefs is one of a number of facts that you would be acquainted with if you had a thorough notion of the link between the early settlers of America and the explicit religious freedom we have today as granted by the Constitution and its amendments. The ISI folks could have just as easily picked some other fact with regard to the Puritans or even one of the other religious sects that established colonies here in order to escape religious persecution.
You could make a similar case for Sputnik. It was one of a large number of events in the struggle between the Soviet Union and the West for dominance in a variety of arenas. But it was a watershed event because, from the moment it was launched, the exploration and exploitation of space became a legitimate and necessary topic of political debate and discussion in the U.S. NASA was established in direct response to the event. and the question of how much of our national resources should be devoted to space activities has been on the table ever since. (Have a look at this page: http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/sputorig.html )
The problem may be that the relevance in cases like these is so obvious that we just take it for granted.
28/33 84.85 %
Damn it, read it as explicitly guarantees.The Bill of Rights explicitly prohibits:
D. establishing an official religion for the United States
I knew it wasn't the constitution, and I was pretty sure it wasn't I had a dream, but the Dec. of Independence I thought had something similar.What was the source of the following phrase: “Government of the people, for the people, by the people”?
D. Gettysburg Address
I had no idea, period. Guessed it was decrease everything.Which of the following fiscal policy combinations would a government most likely follow to stimulate economic activity when the economy is in a severe recession?
C. decreasing taxes and increasing spending
I felt stupid for getting this wrong.International trade and specialization most often lead to which of the following?
A. an increase in a nation’s productivity
For some reason I assumed the debt was zero, which in case I would of been rightIf taxes equal government spending, then:
D. tax per person equals government spending per person
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Sergeant Thorne
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That question really annoys me. That wasn't a test of knowledge, it was a test to see whether or not you could allow yourself to settle on such a ridiculously obvious/simple answer! Probably gave the math majors a thrill, though.Dakatsu wrote:For some reason I assumed the debt was zero, which in case I would of been right
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No "thrill", just a momentary pause to double-check that I read the question right. It was definitely one of the more out-of-place questions.Sergeant Thorne wrote:Probably gave the math majors a thrill, though.
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But that doesn't mean the debt is zero, it just means it won't change from whatever it already is. It just means the budget is balanced.Sergeant Thorne wrote:That question really annoys me. That wasn't a test of knowledge, it was a test to see whether or not you could allow yourself to settle on such a ridiculously obvious/simple answer! Probably gave the math majors a thrill, though.Dakatsu wrote:For some reason I assumed the debt was zero, which in case I would of been right
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Well, it's a tricky question because you might make the assumption, as Dakatsu and I did, that no excess spending = no debt. And really that would be an obvious outcome, provided there were no debt to begin with. However this question does not provide any surrounding circumstances, which means we're not dealing with circumstances in our assessment of effect, which necessarily limits us to the very obvious answer--essentially a restatement of the events of the question.
This has been a life lesson relearned, and I'm sure will come in very handy... the next time someone tries to trick me in a test/quiz!
This has been a life lesson relearned, and I'm sure will come in very handy... the next time someone tries to trick me in a test/quiz!
