# Can You pass this US citizenship test? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 3, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004 "2016-07-03T15:42:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/21 "2016-07-03T23:36:11Z")
10/10 in the US test, and 19/24 in the UK test. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/22 "2016-07-04T01:11:49Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Wow–this concept catches me by surprise! > Are there objective criteria? What causes a person to fail and be denied? The immigration officer has a lot of discretion, but my impression–from some of the former students I’ve had who passed–is that it really doesn’t take a whole lot of English facility to pass the oral part. It’s not like they want you to speak with perfect syntax and pronunciation. They also have you write a few sentences, which don’t have to be absolutely perfect either. I think the best way to describe what the officer wants is to see is that the person can interact appropriately with people in public contexts and more or less understand what’s going on. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/23 "2016-07-04T01:15:47Z")
Pretty easy, 10 for 10. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/24 "2016-07-04T01:16:48Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Actually, not an “acculturation” test but more of a verbal English language proficiency test. [Description here](https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartE-Chapter2.html). Senior citizen applicants and others are exempted from the English test. From that page: > > The small-talk part is a bit of a misdirection/red herring tactic, the pass/fail is on whether the non-exempted person can understand and communicate the material relevant to their application and the civics test IOW does s/he understand what’s going on here today and can s/he express so in English? > > ​ Yes, but you are going from what you read on the website. I’m going from the immigration officers that I know, and what they tell me. In the end, the officer has a lot of leeway. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/25 "2016-07-04T01:22:23Z")
10/10. No sweat. When I tried it, the link to the UK test was broken. I knew where Nate Silver’s 538 came from. It was 535 when I left the US. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/26 "2016-07-04T01:27:39Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Seriously? Only ten easy questions. > > (I answered them all correctly.) But the ten are from a list of 100. Where can we take the full 100-question quiz? ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/27 "2016-07-04T01:29:06Z")
Yes I took the test before on line and passed it. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/28 "2016-07-04T01:52:00Z")
Having taken the test last year, the challenge lies in the fact that we _didn’t_ learn any of this in school growing up. That and the anxiety of getting any of it wrong. I don’t think most interviewees know that 6 out of 10 thing. I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/29 "2016-07-04T02:15:50Z")
\*Examiner: All right, here’s your last question. What was the cause of the Civil War? Apu: Actually, there were numerous causes. Aside from the obvious schism between the abolitionists and the anti-abolitionists, there were economic factors, both domestic and inter… Examiner: Wait, wait… just say slavery. Apu: Slavery it is, sir.\* I teach this stuff, so yeah, 10/10. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/30 "2016-07-04T02:33:38Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > But the ten are from a list of 100. Where can we take the full 100-question quiz? Found this that may be the closest you get to it, but it’s quite unofficial - the specific wording of the questions and of the answer choices varies from the actual test, some times quite a bit. In the actual official test list there are also a couple of questions specific to your home state, which would not show up in any of these online test modes, so [this unofficial one](http://civicsquiz.com/100-question-u-s-civics-quiz/)seems to pad with rephrased revisits of others. Meanwhile, the _ **official** _ list of questions **WITH** the answers – i.e. the government’s own cram sheet – is [here](https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/teachers/educational-products/100-civics-questions-and-answers-mp3-audio-english-version). ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/31 "2016-07-04T03:20:25Z")
I got nine out of ten. I muffed the number of Representatives, which, admittedly, I should have known. So, yes, I passed. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/32 "2016-07-04T04:12:07Z")
> [@D18](#): > > Canuck, here. Got 9 out of 10. Missed the number of representatives, and got lucky with the Secretary who isn’t in cabinet. Same, though I reverse your two iffy questions - I missed which Secretary, I chose the right one of two possibilities in the House. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/33 "2016-07-04T05:24:45Z")
7\10. Not bad for a Canadian! ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/34 "2016-07-04T07:28:55Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > Having taken the test last year, the challenge lies in the fact that we _didn’t_ learn any of this in school growing up. That and the anxiety of getting any of it wrong. I don’t think most interviewees know that 6 out of 10 thing. I didn’t. Speak for yourself, I definitely learned all of that in school with the possible exception of when Tax Day is. I think I learned that from watching my parents. 10/10 on the US test, 17/24 on the UK. Leash laws and Scottish juries? No clue. We definitely covered Henry VIII beheading various wives and establishing the Church of England in school, as well as Oliver Cromwell, but beyond that my knowledge of English monarchs before George III is pretty limited. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/35 "2016-07-04T15:13:46Z")
10/10, and yes, I have Nate Silver to thank for knowing the number of Reps. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/36 "2016-07-04T15:18:49Z")
Oh, and 20/24 for the UK test, mostly because my interest in Henry VIII and his wives is nil and I have no frigging clue how juries work in Scotland. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/37 "2016-07-04T15:27:17Z")
10/10. 16/24 for the UK, and that was probably guessing 90% of them. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/38 "2016-07-04T15:38:52Z")
I passed the US one, narrowly failed the UK one. So… apparently I should move I guess? Incidently, for those questioning the ‘dog walking’ questions, odd though it be, it’s a damn sight more useful than knowing which King ruled when the Domesday book was written. You’d be amazed how often that doesn’t come up in everyday life. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/39 "2016-07-04T17:16:54Z")
UNCLE SAM WOULD BE PROUD! You got 10 out of 10 right! Congratulations, you passed the U.S. naturalization test with red, white, and blue colors. Share your results I took me less than a minute to take the whole thing. It should be an easy quiz for anyone. I would be really concerned if I found out that any American citizen couldn’t pass it at least but I am sure there are several of different political stripes on my Facebook feed alone that couldn’t pass it on a good day. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004/40 "2016-07-04T19:53:05Z")
Re the British one, I’m amused at the idea that the Brits “discovered” hovercraft. Like they wandered into a cave one day, and there they were! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pass-this-us-citizenship-test/759004.md?page=3)