This is the American Civics Literacy Test that was on the news last night. 2508 people took it and we averaged 49% on the score. Elected officials averaged 44%. Any surprise there?
56% of the people polled knew Paula Abdul was a judge on American Idol. Nice!
Anyway, here's the site:
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx
Have fun! The last 6 questions are doozies. See if you agree with the answers. Feel free to argue them here.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Take a civics test
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9 comments:
I don't think these answers really are subject to argument. #29 they are not correctly using the term "public good" ( a good where my consumption of it doesn't interfere with your consumption of it, and a person can't be stopped from consuming it. Example = national defense). #33 is just a silly math question. If A=B, then dividing each side by the same number (population) still yields an equality. #30, 31, and 32 are ECON 101 questions.
I scored an 81.82%...27/33 correct.
I missed #s 4, 7, 8, 13, 27 and 30.
I scored 27 of 33 too, and missed #4. I think it was a lousy selection. after all Licoln was linked to abolitionists. missed 13 too. did not like that one either.
I'm no genius so this test must be very basic. There are millions of US history/civics questions you could ask me that I would not know.
But then again, is it important to know what Wm McKinley had for breakfast the day he was shot, or just to know he was a President?
Ok I guess we could really argue #30. Not because I got it wrong but because you know our gov't will tax and spend now, and being in a recession does not even matter.
I answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %
I missed on Q's 13, 27, 29, and 3O
Economics are not my strongest point, but I felt good about my test score overall. At least I have retained some knowledge since school.
"You answered 30 out of 33 correctly — 90.91 %"
Somehow managed to questions 7, 9 and 33 wrong. A- for me, then.
I forgot 7 and didn't pay attention to 33, so that's on me. But getting question 9 wrong for answering "B" is BS. It's called the 16th Amendment.
I got 91.9 % too.
But #33 is bogus. Just because taxes = Gov't spending doesn't translate to "Gov't spending/person = taxes/person"
If someone is in a wheelchair with Cerebral Palsy they may not be paying any taxes at all, but Gov't spending for them may be many times higher than someone paying 49% of the income.
I have Cerebral Palsy and I pay taxes. I get no special treatment from the government. I'm lucky to have a job but I'd be screwed if I lost it, being that I'm not nearly as marketable as most in the workforce. Point is: there is not nearly as many tax dollars being spent on a social infrastructure as people believe. Meanwhile the tax dollars I work hard to earn go to Wall Street bailouts and the Pentagon rather than people less fortunate then me. The weak supporting the strong- gotta love it.
This is Anonymous1.
My apology to Anon2.
I should have used the reference of someone brain-damaged in a longterm facility on the government dole vs someone in the highest tax bracket who receives little actual subsidy. I should have stated it more clearly.
And, you are entirely correct--at least I agree with you--- that the highest wage earners typically are governmentally protected while the lower class is not. The laws favor the rich.
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