# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/81 "2008-04-14T15:51:40Z")
80% I was feeling pretty smug for a Canadian, then I saw that most Canadian dopers outscored me. Now I’m proud of them, but a little embarrassed for me. The “_who said what in which documents_” questions were my doom, but I also thought the just war question was questionable. I was genuinely surprised that Social Security cost more than interest on the debt. I would have done _ **much worse** _ if this had been a short answer questions test instead of multiple choice. A lot of times, you can find the right answer, even when you have no idea a priori, just by elimination and a little tangential knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/82 "2008-04-14T15:51:57Z")
You answered 60 out of 60 correctly — 100.00 % Average score for this quiz during April: 67.2% Average score since September 18, 2007: 67.2% ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/83 "2008-04-14T16:29:32Z")
> [@](#): > > You answered 43 out of 60 correctly — 71.67 % > Average score for this quiz during April: 67.2% > Average score since September 18, 2007: 67.2% I was _this close_ on some of the date questions… ---
**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, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/84 "2008-04-14T16:30:35Z")
[QUOTE=congodwarf] 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. [/QUOTE] What, now I’m too stupid to sit with you guys?! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/85 "2008-04-14T17:53:27Z")
76.67%. I missed pretty much everything that mentioned philosophers and I missed a couple of dates. Thought I was going to do a lot worse… ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/86 "2008-04-14T18:12:59Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] You answered 60 out of 60 correctly — 100.00 % Average score for this quiz during April: 67.2% Average score since September 18, 2007: 67.2% [/QUOTE] Don’t forget - an article about this test ran in USA Today this weekend. I’d imagine their traffic has been pretty heavy. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/87 "2008-04-14T18:56:57Z")
90% I, too missed #36, and for #55 I didn’t even read down to option E before I answered, stupid me. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/88 "2008-04-14T19:03:53Z")
I scored a 51 / 60 for 85%. I’m not at all ashamed of that mark, but I was dismayed to find that I went wrong on _all_ the ones I guessed about (where I had narrowed it down to 2 choices), which was the case for 5 of the 9 I got wrong. For #34, I didn’t remember what Washington’s farewell address had in it, but remembered Eisenhower’s speech about “humanity on a cross of iron” and figured it was one of the two. For #26, I knew by elimination it was either Hume or Locke’s political thought (it wasn’t Plato’s “Philosopher King” nor Machiavelli, and Hegel comes too late in history), and picked the wrong one. For #42, I knew that Kennedy both imposed a blockade and financed a failed invasion of anti-Castro Cubans at the Bay of Pigs, but didn’t know which came first. And for #58, on what happens when the Fed buys bonds (instead of issuing them), only B and D made any sense at all to me, though I wasn’t sure how to determine the mechanism for choosing between the two. (I have never taken Economics.) And on #60, I figured it was either Social Security or debt payments (Treasury bonds) as the biggest chunk of the Federal payout over the last 20 years, and figured the Soc Security problem would only really hit the top in the next 20 years when the Baby Boomers started cashing it in. (Which means it’s really, _really_ a problem if it’s already the top spot, doesn’t it?) I mean, what are the odds of going 0 for 5 on 50/50 guesses? (OK, I can do the math for that one: 1/32, or 3.125%). Oh, well! ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/89 "2008-04-14T19:19:33Z")
80%. Some of those were pretty tough. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/90 "2008-04-14T19:19:50Z")
[QUOTE=lorene] What, now I’m too stupid to sit with you guys?! ☹ [/QUOTE] No worries love, I’m headed over to that exact same 66.67% bench myself right now and I’d be delighted if you’d walk with me. I mightn’t be a Civics machine, but I have good manners. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/91 "2008-04-14T19:43:34Z")
> [@](#): > > You answered 53 out of 60 correctly — 88.33 % > Average score for this quiz during April: 67.1% > Average score since September 18, 2007: 67.1% All the ones I got wrong were early US History questions (and two economic ones), which I’m okay with since I didn’t grow up here. Boo-yah! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/92 "2008-04-14T19:46:36Z")
[QUOTE=trupa] The “_who said what in which documents_” questions were my doom, but I also thought the just war question was questionable. [/QUOTE] I got that one wrong, too, because I didn’t actually read the question. It was asking about just war _theory_- a specific perspective on political philosophy- not about what makes a war just, if that makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/93 "2008-04-14T19:53:28Z")
[QUOTE=lorene] 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. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I had one of those asshole teachers in 8th grade in 1983. Your teacher’s name wasn’t Mr. Perry, was it? We called him Little Hitler. He was really mean to everyone and I was terrified of him. One day, he found a girl writing a note to her boyfriend in class. He grabbed the note, held it up in the air and read it in front of everyone while the girl was trying desperately to jump up and grab it out of his hands. He was giggling the entire time. I was always a solid B+ student, but I failed the entire year of history that year, which was when most of the things on this test were taught. THAT is why I only got 50%. Wow. Should I have the moderators ban me now? I’m clearly out of my league here. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/94 "2008-04-14T19:54:24Z")
You answered 56 out of 60 correctly — 93.33 % I agree there is no good answer to 36 (Just War) ---
**Author:** ![mazinger\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/95 "2008-04-14T20:39:36Z")
[QUOTE=5 time champ] 93.33%, about what I expected [/quote] Same score for me, same expectation. > [@](#): > > Question #36 - D. The authority of a legitimate sovereign. > none of the answers really made sense I learned this in AP US History my junior year in high school. It was on a bunch of practice tests, too. We were never told the reasoning behind it, just what the term meant. > [@](#): > > Question #55 - E. increased for the lower and middle classes and increased most for the upper class. > Seems like the poor are getting poorer One of the great results of capitalism and a free market economy. I would blame the media hype for thinking otherwise. However, I won’t discount that the gap between rich and poor is widening. > [@](#): > > Question #58 - B. An increase in the volume of commercial bank loans. > whatever All things being equal, a purchase of bonds by the Fed will cause an increase in demand for the price of bonds. The price of bonds and the interest rate have an inverse relationship. Therefore, with the price of bonds rising, interest rates will fall. Lower interest rates sparks demand from borrowers. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/96 "2008-04-14T20:46:04Z")
You answered 52 out of 60 correctly — 86.67 % Ones I missed: Question #1 - D. 1601-1700 Question #9 - B. was a stalemate. Question #13 - B. the nature and control of Reconstruction. Question #34 - B. President Washington’s Farewell Address. Question #35 - A. discouraged new colonies in the Western hemisphere. Question #54 - D. can be reversed by government spending more than it taxes. Question #58 - B. An increase in the volume of commercial bank loans. Question #60 - B. social security. I would have bet money #60 was miltary. Huh. The “Just War” answer comes originally from Aquinas, who wrote that only a sovereign can declare a just war: > [@](#): > > I answer that, In order for a war to be just, three things are necessary. First, the authority of the sovereign by whose command the war is to be waged. For it is not the business of a private individual to declare war, because he can seek for redress of his rights from the tribunal of his superior. Moreover it is not the business of a private individual to summon together the people, which has to be done in wartime. And as the care of the common weal is committed to those who are in authority, it is their business to watch over the common weal of the city, kingdom or province subject to them. And just as it is lawful for them to have recourse to the sword in defending that common weal against internal disturbances, when they punish evil-doers, according to the words of the Apostle (Rm. 13:4): “He beareth not the sword in vain: for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil”; so too, it is their business to have recourse to the sword of war in defending the common weal against external enemies. Hence it is said to those who are in authority (Ps. 81:4): “Rescue the poor: and deliver the needy out of the hand of the sinner”; and for this reason Augustine says (Contra Faust. xxii, 75): “The natural order conducive to peace among mortals demands that the power to declare and counsel war should be in the hands of those who hold the supreme authority.” > **[Summa Theologica](https://www.ccel.org/a/aquinas/summa/SS/SS040.html)** ---
**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, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/97 "2008-04-14T20:52:30Z")
[QUOTE=lorene] What, now I’m too stupid to sit with you guys?! ☹ [/QUOTE] hehehe, see? Too stupid to even preview before I post. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/98 "2008-04-14T21:20:08Z")
83.33% The only ones I feel bad for missing was the founding of Jamestown, and when women got the vote. The econ questions killed me, but I’m not surprised by that. I did better than I’d expected with the political philosophy stuff. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/99 "2008-04-14T21:32:11Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] The only ones I feel bad for missing was the founding of Jamestown, and when women got the vote. [/QUOTE] I missed the Jamestown one too, and I don’t even feel bad. I just flat-ass couldn’t remember. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Them](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@The\_Them](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Them)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/100 "2008-04-14T23:19:44Z")
A lousy 86.67%. But it’s not my fault. I had to guess on all that crap with Plato ‘n’ stuff, having never been forced to study it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078.md?page=6)