# Could you pass the latest US citizenship test? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117 "2008-07-02T23:26:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/1 "2008-07-02T23:26:56Z")
Well, [can you?](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25461301/) Myself, I got 85%. Not bad, but I’m annoyed I didn’t score a perfect. Some of the questions were a little tricky. ---
**Author:** ![Ducktail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/43a26b/32.png) [@Ducktail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ducktail)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/2 "2008-07-02T23:31:05Z")
I got 90%. Sadly, this was not due to the strong knowledge of the workings of democracy instilled in my in my years of public education, but rather because my bedtime reading for the past two nights has been Jon Stewart’s _Democracy Inaction_. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/3 "2008-07-02T23:34:54Z")
I got 100% just quickly scrolling and clicking quickly through the entire test. I am not sure if I should contact INS directly **Autolycus** but expect a knock on your door soon, hopefully exactly two days from now. It seems like you missed out on a fireworks display a time or ten in your life. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/4 "2008-07-02T23:38:07Z")
95%, not bad. It would have been 100% if I had paid more attention to the question about the first words in The Constitution. _We The People…_ :smack: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@The\_Tof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tof)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/5 "2008-07-02T23:38:08Z")
I got 90%. I had to make educated guesses on 3, and got two wrong. ☹ (Fyi- Supreme Court and President during a war questions were the wrong answers. # of amendments was the guess I got right- but I was like 70% sure.) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/6 "2008-07-02T23:42:42Z")
I got 70%. Some of the numbers questions are tricky for furriners. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/7 "2008-07-02T23:43:10Z")
95% I missed the number of representatives in the house. …three hundred-something, four hundred-something, like it makes a difference… ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/8 "2008-07-02T23:46:56Z")
85% with a few lucky guesses. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/9 "2008-07-02T23:49:01Z")
Damn. I read one wrong so I only got 95%. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/10 "2008-07-02T23:49:27Z")
[QUOTE=swampbear] 95%, not bad. It would have been 100% if I had paid more attention to the question about the first words in The Constitution. _We The People…_ :smack: [/QUOTE] That’s what I got too, with the same one wrong. Damn, so obvious now! ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/11 "2008-07-02T23:59:58Z")
95% for me. I need to pay attention to the Supreme Court once in a while. John G Who? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/12 "2008-07-03T00:08:35Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] 95% I missed the number of representatives in the house. …three hundred-something, four hundred-something, like it makes a difference… [/QUOTE] \ I got 100%. The easy way to remember how many people are in the House, especially in an election year, is by remembering that the number of electoral votes is equal to the number of Representatives plus the number of Senators, plus 3 votes for DC for a total of 538. 538-103=435. Or, just maybe, I’m a nerd. That’s entirely possible too. ---
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/13 "2008-07-03T00:15:21Z")
I got 95%, but that’s because I am no good at remembering which presidents were in office at what time. :o ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/14 "2008-07-03T00:16:36Z")
I got 85%. I guessed a few. There are a lot more amendments than I thought. What is the actual required pass mark for people seeking citizenship? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/15 "2008-07-03T00:25:04Z")
100%, woo hoo! (I made an educated guess on the chief justice and number of amendments; the rest I knew.) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/16 "2008-07-03T00:30:05Z")
95% - but the one I missed was because I read the question incorrectly. ---
**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 3, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/17 "2008-07-03T00:32:25Z")
Got 100%… but then again, even the revised version’s not that hard. BTW, in case someone didn’t get this detail, what they do is they have a large set of potential questions by subject and by degree of difficulty, and various potential phrasings of the question, and then they assemble each edition of the test by taking a sample from that pool. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/18 "2008-07-03T00:33:11Z")
I got 100%, but the “Who was President during World War I” question was a lucky guess. I can never remember the difference between Wilson and Harding. (Even though I should have remembered that Harding died really early into his term. Whatever.) I was also amused by the third answer to question 3: 1. What are the first words of the Constitution? A. When, in the course of human events B. In order to form a more perfect Union C. To whom it may concern D. We the People “To whom it may concern, please be advised that we are forming a more perfect union. You have been pre-approved to apply for membership!” ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/19 "2008-07-03T00:36:50Z")
95%, though I got lucky on a couple - Maine, New Hampshire? Flip a coin. Oddly enough, on the one question I got wrong my first instinct was actually the right answer (date of the writing of the Constitution, changed my answer to '76). I hope this doesn’t mean I _have_ to become a US citizen… ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117/20 "2008-07-03T00:38:10Z")
I got 90%. I got wrong how many amendments there are to your Constitution (quite a few!), and I got wrong which state was not one of the orginal states. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-pass-the-latest-us-citizenship-test/455117.md?page=2)