These Are the Hardest Questions on the U.S. Citizenship Test
It’s no secret that the United States is a country of immigrants. Despite recent political moods, the nation has a long history of welcoming foreigners from all over the world. Up to 780,000 people become American citizens every year.
They need to meet several requirements, one of which is knowledge of U.S. history and government. This is done by taking a citizenship test. But there are no surprises. A United States Citizenship and Immigration Services officer randomly selects 10 questions from a list of 100, and reads them in English to the would-be citizen, who must answer at least six correctly.
Some questions are easy — who is the president of the United States or what are the two main political parties. Others, however, can make even citizens think twice. In fact, just 36% of Americans would pass a multiple choice test with questions from the civics test, according to a 2018 national survey conducted by Lincoln Park Strategies, an analytic research firm.
The good news is that, even though some questions have multiple correct answers, a person only has to know one. No one will have to, for example, memorize all 56 people who signed the Declaration of Independence.
To compile a list of the 21 hardest civics questions in the naturalization test, 24/7 Tempo reviewed several sources, including a 2011 study by Paula Winke, a professor at Michigan State University who studies language and language testing, a 2018 national survey conducted by Lincoln Park Strategies, an analytic research firm, and two online guides for the U.S. citizenship test. The questions on the following list are in no particular order, but all of them were considered the most difficult by these sources.
Name three of the 13 original colonies
What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
Why did the colonists fight the British?
Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?
What does the judicial branch do?
What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?
Who was President during World War I?
The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.
What is the name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives now?
Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II?
Name your U.S. representative.
When was the Constitution written?
Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now?
Who is one of your state’s U.S. senators now?
How many amendments does the Constitution have?
The House of Representatives has how many members?
How many Justices are on the Supreme Court?
What is the “rule of law”?
Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.
We elect a U.S. senator for how many years?
Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government?
There you have it. The hardest questions found on the U.S. citizenship test. How did you do?
Article by 247wallst.com
Images by Getty Images & sweetbabeejay /istock
Author: Dennis Hickey
There are no limits to success to those who never stop learning. Learning will nourish your personal growth. I hope you enjoy this website and visit often so you too keep learning and growing.
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One thought on “These Are the Hardest Questions on the U.S. Citizenship Test”
I had to answer three questions back in 2014, and I don’t think they were all really from the actual test. The first asked for the name of the first US president. The second asked who was currently governor in my home state. The third asked which movement Martin Luther King JR had an instrumental role in. So, the answers were George Washington, John Kitzhaber (Oregon), and the Civil Rights Movement. I felt I got off easy – I had expected far worse!
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I had to answer three questions back in 2014, and I don’t think they were all really from the actual test. The first asked for the name of the first US president. The second asked who was currently governor in my home state. The third asked which movement Martin Luther King JR had an instrumental role in. So, the answers were George Washington, John Kitzhaber (Oregon), and the Civil Rights Movement. I felt I got off easy – I had expected far worse!