# Civic Literacy Test - Mentioned in USA Today **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 12, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078 "2008-04-12T21:04:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/61 "2008-04-14T01:57:51Z")
[QUOTE=jacquilynne] 75%. I would be ashamed, except I’m not American. [/QUOTE] Yeah, 70% here… with a ditto non-US caveat. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/62 "2008-04-14T01:59:25Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] I’m a complete moron and will never amount to anything worthwhile. I mean…the only other people to score as bad as me were someone who graduated HS in 1977, and someone from Spain. I _used_ to think I was smart…then I joined the SDMB… ☹ [/QUOTE] I scored worse than you and I graduated from High School in 2001. Though I can totally relate to that feeling. ☹😉 ---
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/63 "2008-04-14T02:08:21Z")
75%. Eh. A lot of those questions, and specifically the 5-answer format, seem stolen from the AP US History Exam, which I took in 1999 after spending a year of complete obsession with an awesomely inspiring teacher. I guess I burned out on American History after that, because I didn’t have any interest taking it or econ during college, and took more international history/politics courses instead. I haven’t thought about any of this stuff in years! And, because, as par for the course in high-school history, we ran out of time towards the end of the curriculum, I’m still really fuzzy on anything that occurred from about 1950-1980 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/64 "2008-04-14T02:22:55Z")
86.67%. Not bad, esp. considering some of the questions I had to resort to the magic asshole to try to answer. Like many here, I’m weak on economics, and philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/65 "2008-04-14T03:32:24Z")
88.33 % I’m with **5 time champ** on the income question. Everything I’ve heard indicates that it’s all trending lower for the middle class. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/66 "2008-04-14T03:47:40Z")
88.33, mostly because I was off by ten to twenty years on all the dates. I’m horrid at dates. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/67 "2008-04-14T03:48:46Z")
[QUOTE=NightRabbit] I’m still really fuzzy on anything that occurred from about 1950-1980 😃 [/QUOTE] History??? :eek: I remember when that was Current Affairs. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/68 "2008-04-14T05:30:31Z")
88.33 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/69 "2008-04-14T05:36:27Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m still really fuzzy on anything that occurred from about 1950-1980 What year were you born? I think there’s often a gap in people’s knowledge between the history that they were taught in school and the current events that happened in their lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![DangleYourModifier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@DangleYourModifier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DangleYourModifier)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/70 "2008-04-14T07:39:20Z")
66.67% and I’m surprised I did so well. A lot of guessing but I’m pretty ignorant of American history. I know enough of the general stuff but the specific dates, names and places I’ve never studied. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/71 "2008-04-14T08:13:33Z")
86.67% Not bad for a Canadian who watched a lot of _Schoolhouse Rock_. ---
**Author:** ![chocolatefrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/41988e/32.png) [@chocolatefrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chocolatefrog)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/72 "2008-04-14T10:12:54Z")
70%, but I’m not American at all. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/73 "2008-04-14T13:27:22Z")
[QUOTE=ISI] You answered 56 out of 60 correctly — 93.33 %. [/QUOTE] Surprised myself. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/74 "2008-04-14T14:03:37Z")
[QUOTE=Crescend] 95% - Civis Americanus Sum. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it - and I shall point and laugh. 😃 [/QUOTE] Laugh, and I laugh with you. > [@](#): > > You answered 57 out of 60 correctly — 95.00 % > Average score for this quiz during April: 67.2% > Average score since September 18, 2007: 67.2% > > You can take the quiz as often as you like, however, your score will only count once toward the monthly average. > > … > > Answers to Your Missed Questions: > > Question #27 - D. Man trusts his ability to know in order to reject his ability to know. > Question #36 - D. The authority of a legitimate sovereign. > Question #58 - B. An increase in the volume of commercial bank loans. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/75 "2008-04-14T14:33:08Z")
Not too bad, 85% (51 out of 60 correct), and I’m British. Thrown by, among others, the subject of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, origin of the power of judicial review, and the just war question. (That answer really surprised me). ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/76 "2008-04-14T14:42:12Z")
Question 36 does seem to be one of the common stumpers, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/77 "2008-04-14T15:22:06Z")
Yeah, I always thought that the primary component of a just war was a _causus belli_ - but that wasn’t one of the options. In retrospect, the real answer makes sense, but it threw me enough to miss it. My other two mistakes were Jamestown (it was an early settlement - buggered if I knew exactly how early) and the abortion question. For some reason, whenever I eliminate the three obviously wrong answers, I always pick the _un_-obviously wrong one. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/78 "2008-04-14T15:35:12Z")
Hey, **bouv** and **olives** , can you make room on the dumbass bench? Thanks. Some of us were too busy trying not to commit suicide during high school to learn this stuff. Plus my American History (which is the closest I came to civics) teacher was an asshole and tried to teach through humiliation and name-calling. Didn’t work for me and I almost flunked. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/79 "2008-04-14T15:41:56Z")
57% - Amazing considering I was actually only positive about (maybe) 10 answers. In my defense, out of the 13 years I was in the Worcester Public School System, I spent a grand total of ONE WHOLE YEAR studying American History. And during that ONE WHOLE YEAR, we spent 4 months trying to decide whether Columbus or the Native Americans were the bigger assholes. Then, we spent another 4 months trying to decide if the town of Wethersfield Ct became more or less democratic over a certain time period. Seriously, who cares? Gotta love AP US History. I had one semester of American History during my first attempt at college. My professor was under the delusion that she was an art history professor. She spent the whole semester showing us slides of artwork, taking us to the Worcester Art Museum, and for some reason, she spent a whole week talking to us about dirt mounts in Louisiana. Sadly, most of my classes were that stupid, which is a large part of the reason why I dropped out. Anyway, I had 6 weeks of American History during my second attempt at college (accelerated weekend program). My professor actually LIKED American History. He made it fun. He made it easy to learn. But, we spent most of the course learning about the Industrial Revolution. I think that once you get to college, they start to assume you actually learned something about American History during high school and they can start to focus on details. Oh, and we never once covered Philosophy or Economics. I’m at the point now where I just don’t give a damn. Give me a book on human anatomy, literature, dead languages, ancient history, or even geometry, and I’ll sit down and read it and most likely enjoy it. Give me a book on American History and I’ll probably fall asleep. I know I’m smart. I also know I’m not your typical Doper level of smart. I’m ok with that. I’ll be over there, sitting with **Olives** and **Bouv** , trying to remember how to breathe with my mouth closed. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/80 "2008-04-14T15:43:21Z")
55/60- 91.67% Question 27: > [@](#): > > Which statement is a common argument against the claim that “man cannot know things”? > A. Professors teach opinion not knowledge. > B. Appellate judges do not comprehend social justice. > C. Consensus belief in a democracy always contains error. > D. Man trusts his ability to know in order to reject his ability to know. > E. Social scientists cannot objectively rank cultures. _Huh?_😕😕😕 Totally guessed on that one (and got it wrong), because I don’t understand it or what in the world it could possibly have to do with civics. Didn’t do great on the economics questions, which isn’t surprising. I never took an economics class, and economics is like biology in that my eyes start to glaze over when I read anything beyond a popular-level explanation of either. I had to take a test a little like this to graduate from high school in Maryland. I don’t remember it having economics questions, and dammit, that seems almost as long ago as the founding of Jamestown… Now get off my lawn, you punks! ETA: My alma mater, the University of Maryland, isn’t on that list. I’m sure we wouldn’t have done particularly well, especially in seniors having higher scores than freshmen, though. Maryland takes (or took, when I was there) a Chinese-menu approach to core courses- one from Column A and two from Column B. There was no required course in American history or government. This made Maryland attractive to people like me who hate required courses, but probably wouldn’t help us in something like this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078.md?page=5)