New Tougher Citizen Test Has Some Boo-Hooing.

[Steely Dan]

Linkage

 

 

Are new conceptual questions such as, "What does the Constitution do?" more difficult than old queries like "What is the Constitution?"

 

Is a question with a range of acceptable answers, such as the new "What is one reason colonists came to America?" preferable to the old "Why did the Pilgrims come to America?"

 

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But some in Professor Robert King's American Government class, which examined sample questions of the old and the new civics tests at CNN.com's request Monday, had other opinions on how immigrants who weren't raised to speak English -- or even U.S. citizens -- might fare on the new version.

 

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Like the new civics exam, the old draws from a pool of more than 95 questions. Both ask applicants up to 10 questions, with applicants needing six correct to pass.

 

The test is not multiple-choice; applicants must know the answer directly and say it.

 

Both exams, given orally, are part of a larger naturalization test in which applicants also take English reading and writing exams. The whole test is one of the steps permanent legal residents take to be naturalized.

[molson_golden2002]

Do they ask them if they know any Supreme Court cases?

[blzrul]

A few years ago I was having my nails done in a salon by a gal from Vietnam. She was trying to study for her citizenship test. She told me she'd failed the written portion three times and was going to take it orally. I reviewed document she'd been given to study and my reaction THEN was that most adult Americans would probably have difficulty answering quite a few of those questions.

[GG]

A few years ago I was having my nails done in a salon by a gal from Vietnam. She was trying to study for her citizenship test. She told me she'd failed the written portion three times and was going to take it orally. I reviewed document she'd been given to study and my reaction THEN was that most adult Americans would probably have difficulty answering quite a few of those questions.

 

Part of the fringe benefit of being born here, and part is the challenge to demonstrate why you really want to be a citizen.

[Steely Dan]

A few years ago I was having my nails done in a salon by a gal from Vietnam. She was trying to study for her citizenship test. She told me she'd failed the written portion three times and was going to take it orally. I reviewed document she'd been given to study and my reaction THEN was that most adult Americans would probably have difficulty answering quite a few of those questions.

 

I'm sure that's true but I believe at one time they knew them. I can't remember a lot of the fifth grade stuff hence the game show are you smarter than a fifth grader.